Genin Again?
by WuKoji
Summary: While going through the Hokage archives, Naruto discovers a scroll by his father. He reads it and tampers with it but accidentally sends himself back in time. Now he has to repeat his academy days, but this time it'll be different. He has all the power he's had when he was 22. NaruxHina, SasuxSaku, and other pairings.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto was walking into the archive room and he found a box labeled "Namikaze." One of the scrolls peaked his interest. It had "Space" and "Time" on it. 'Maybe it's another one of dad's cool jutsus,' Naruto thought to himself.

**"Hey kit. I wouldn't tamper with that if I were you**."

"Kurama! Let me just take a peek!" the blond said giddily.

"**Whatever. If you screw up, don't go blaming me**," the fox said as he went into a slumber.

The blond quickly took out his kunai and cut the seal of the scroll open. He couldn't wait to see what was inside the scroll. However, as soon as he opened the scroll, a whirlpool sucked him in and the scroll closed itself. The blond, falling quickly through space and time, blacked out. When he awoke, he was in his old bedroom. "Arghhhh. What hit me?" the tired blond said.

"**You idiot! You opened the scroll without properly removing the seal! That was one of your father's scrolls. Who knows what could have been in it.**"

"You worry too much Kurama," Naruto said. Naruto then proceeded to get out of bed, but as the blond got up, he realized that everything seemed different. Everything was bigger than it normally was. He went into the mirror and gasped. He looked exactly the way he did before he graduated from the academy. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!"

"**It seems like your father's scroll sent you back in time. Considering how he used those teleportations through space, you must've opened a scroll that took us back in time. Way to go, idiot."**

**"**Oh noooooo! I have to grow up again? I have to redo all these things! I even have to graduate again!" The blond yelled in his head.

"**Hey kit. It ain't all that bad. I think you're still as strong as when you left. You got your connection with me still and you got your boundless chakra.**"

Kurama was right. Naruto could still do everything he was able to do before. He quickly sat down on the floor and tested if he could go into Sage Mode. In a matter of moments, Naruto's eyes became that of a frog's.

"Woahhh! You're right! Hmmm... This could be interesting." The blond said with an evil smile.

Naruto quickly went to the calendar to check the date. It was the day of graduation. He had a killer idea.

"I'm not gonna be dead last!" The blond screamed aloud.

"**I would hope not. If you still were with the strength you've got now, then I'd be pretty disappointed in who I'm giving my chakra to. Then again, you have surpassed all the Hokage in stupidity**." The fox said as he yawned.

Naruto was getting angry at Kurama, but then he realized something. "But wait a second. If dad had something like this at his disposal, couldn't he have fixed a lot of things that went wrong before?! Like Obito getting crushed or mom dying?!" Naruto yelled aloud.

"**I don't think your father had the power of the Sage of Six Paths, kit.**"

"Aw crap! Oh well. Nothing we can do about it now." Naruto said nonchalantly.

The blond got up and quickly took a look around his room. It looked like a mess. Was he really this messy when he was twelve years old? He went into his closet and pulled out the cleaning supplies that Iruka had gotten for him. He then summoned some shadow clones and got his room clean in a half hour.

He then looked at his wallet and decided to go food and clothes shopping. He was pretty tired of his old attire. He first pulled off a transformation technique so that he wouldn't be overcharged (like most shop owners did knowing that he had the Kyuubi inside him) and went shopping at the local market. He got everything he needed for the week and then went clothes shopping. He found some black pants with orange lining running down his legs and found a black shirt with an orange swirl in the middle. He purchased both and headed back home to change. 'Wow. I can't believe I haven't thought of this before,' the blond thought as he got ready for the Academy.

On his way to the Academy, Naruto still got his occasional death stares from the local villagers, but he payed no mind to them. As he got to the classroom, he scanned the room for a seat. As luck would have it, he found a seat next to his love, Hinata. He remembered how they finally went on their first date two years after the 4th Ninja War ended. This time, he wouldn't let his ignorance make him wait a few years before finally getting to go on a date with her.

As Naruto sat next to her, Hinata's face got red. 'He's sitting next to me! Maybe he wants to talk. Maybe he likes me! ...no. He probably had no where else to sit. I should talk to him still!' She played with her fingers and finally got enough courage to talk to him. "He-llo N-N-Naruto. I l-l-like your n-new out-fit" she said.

"Thanks Hinata!" the blond said happily. He then began "So listen, Hinata..."

The blond was cut off as Iruka came in. He yelled "Take your seats everyone. We are about to start the written part of the exam. I hope you're all prepared for it. I think a lot of you would want to graduate this year." Iruka made a small glance towards Naruto.

The blond sighed as he told Hinata that he'd talk to her later. He then received his exam and started going through it fast. Even Kurama was impressed. "**Wow kit. This may be the one time you do well on a written test**" Kurama said.

As Naruto finished up, he quickly gave his test to Iruka with a smile on his face. Iruka quickly graded it and said, "Good job Naruto. You got a 68."

Kurama face faulted in Naruto's head. "**Well, a passing grade is still a passing grade… Wait a sec, I think you did worse this time than you did last time!**"

As everyone finished up, Iruka told everyone to come up when called and perform the clone jutsu. They needed to make at least. Sakura came up and produced 3 clones. Sasuke came up and produced 8 clones. When Naruto was called up, he used a different hand sign. He formed a cross with his fingers and yelled "Shadow Clone Jutsu." In an instant, the room was filled with dozens of Narutos.

Iruka had a look of shock on his face. Not only did Naruto make the most clones, but they were all solid. He congratulated Naruto and gave him his headband. Sasuke gave a pissed off glare at Naruto as he thought 'How did the dobe learn how to make shadow clones?'

As everyone exited the classroom, Naruto saw Hinata, but Hinata was with her father. Naruto figured he'd just talk to her the next day because he didn't want to have Hiashi chasing him with the Hyuga Sword.

When Naruto walked outside, he glanced at the swings by the Academy tree. He remembered when he was sitting there, depressed because he didn't graduate. But, not things were different. Though he did hear some parents say, "They let HIM graduate? Are they insane?" Naruto paid them no mind and kept a big grin on his face.

Even though he couldn't spend his day with Hinata, he was betting that Iruka was looking for an explanation for how he was able to pull off a Jonin-class ninjutsu. After class at his favorite ramen restaurant, Naruto told Iruka his well thought out lie about how he learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He said how he saw a guy in a mask and a guy in green spandex sparring with each other and saw the one in the mask pull of the jutsu. Iruka was impressed with Naruto and Kurama just snickered. "**Kit, you deserve some credit for being able to pull that off**." After Naruto finished off 12 bowls of ramen, he decided to thank Iruka and head home.

As Naruto returned home, he had high hopes for what was to come the next day.

Meanwhile, Iruka was being called off to the Hokage along with other shinobi. Lord Hokage told everyone that Mizuki had stolen the Sacred Forbidden Scroll and he had to be stopped. Iruka was shocked to hear that his fellow colleague had committed this crime. The shinobi quickly scattered in search of Mizuki.

'What's come over Mizuki? Never mind that. He can't get a chance to access the contents of that scroll. Who knows what will happen if Mizuki learns some of the deadliest ninjutsu.' Iruka thought. He quickly headed to the forest to see if Mizuki was there. Iruka quickly encountered Mizuki and asked him, "Why Mizuki? Why steal the scroll when we trusted you?"

"You're a fool, Iruka. Only a simpleton like you wouldn't understand the power this scroll has." Mizuki then got a killer idea. "Why don't you let me go Iruka? I'll do you a personal favor." Mizuki said with and evil smirk.

"What could I possibly want from you?" Iruka asked.

"Don't you want the Kyuubi dead? You know, the demon that hurt the village and took away your parents from you? You think a demon like that should be allowed to be a ninja? I don't know about you, but I bet a lot of villagers would see me as a hero if I just ended that pathetic brat." Mizuki said while laughing evilly.

Iruka smiled. "You're right. The Kyuubi shouldn't be a shinobi. I would do a lot to have the demon fox dead."

Mizuki smiled and then turned his head to run. But all of a sudden, a huge shuriken was implanted in his back. A shocked Mizuki fell over and saw Iruka's smiling face change to a serious one.

"But," Iruka continued, "Naruto isn't the demon fox! He's one of my best students who I have the utmost respect for. He's Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage!" Iruka yelled while knocking Mizuki out.

Iruka handed the giant scroll back to Lord Hokage and had the other ninja drag Mizuki to face his punishment. Mizuki was to go to a high facility prison for life. Meanwhile, a certain blond was in his home sleeping like a fox.


	2. Chapter 2

_The Next Day_

Naruto woke up early to see that it was only 6 o clock. He decided he'd make himself a decent breakfast and get ready for the day. Today was the day that he'd meet Kakashi-sensei and get assigned to team 7. Naruto went to the kitchen and fixed himself some eggs and some sausage. He got showered and dressed in his new attire. But before leaving, he wanted to make sure that he could still access Kurama's chakra so he went into his inner mind and called forth the chakra. He was able to call the chakra, but something was off.

"Hey Kurama, why can't I access the power that Old Man Sage gave me?"

"**Kit, that's probably a power that couldn't return with us when we went back in time.**"

"Awwww man. I could've been a big hot shot if I could fly around the village." Naruto said as he pouted.

"**The villagers would probably be more afraid of you if they saw you flying around, you idiot**."

"I guess you're right." Naruto sighed at how he thought about having to make the villagers accept him for who he was again. "At least I still got your cool chakra cloak." Naruto said with a grin.

Naruto decided to get to the academy by roof. As he flew from roof to roof he kept thinking about his old life. He went into thought and wondered if anyone was missing him right now. 'What will happen to the village now that I'm gone? Who'll protect Hinata and Konoha?'

The fox decided to help Naruto's thought process "**You should probably know this before you keep on worrying about your prior life, but they probably won't notice that you were gone.**"

"And why is that?" the blond said aloud defensively?

"**You idiot. If we were to go back in time, then that means that we are changing the future. The only reason why the future is changing is because we weren't supposed to be here at this point in time. But there's nothing we can do about it. Now that we are here, the future has to change and because the future has changed, the future that we knew of can no longer exist.**"

"Oh... You didn't have to call me an idiot." Naruto said.

"**I'm not calling the idiot an idiot. You made yourself that way**." the fox snickered.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled in public before noticing that the villagers were yelling at him from down below to be quiet. "Great~ now they hate me even more. *sigh*"

As Naruto got to the Academy, he quickly approached Hinata with a big grin on his face. Hinata blushed and said, "N-N-Naruto. I'm g-g-glad that w-we both p-passed."

He replied, "Me too Hinata! Now we're Genin!" He took a seat next to her and then asked, "So Hinata, I was wondering if you'd like to go out on a date tonight?"

"**You bring a whole new meaning to the word 'subtle'**," Kurama said.

Hinata's face went bright red. 'Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! He actually asked me out! Okay! Be calm! Be calm! Just answer him and then you can faint!' Hinata shut her eyes and gave a quick nod.

Naruto said, "Great! I'll pick you up at your place at 7?"

Hinata gave one last nod and then proceeded to faint. Luckily, Naruto caught her before she fell over and laid her on the desk. He didn't realize that everyone was watching him, including Sasuke. 'So the dobe finally realized she liked him,' Sasuke thought to himself.

Sakura approached Naruto and asked, "Did you just ask Hinata out?" Naruto replied with a nod. Inner Sakura was so happy. 'Yes! Now that blond won't keep trying to ask me out!'

Kiba and the other guys gave Naruto the thumbs up as Iruka opened the door. Naruto noticed how Mizuki wasn't with Iruka. 'Hey Kurama, what do you think happened to that bastard?' Naruto thought in his head.

"**He probably got in trouble. As memory serves, he tried to get us to give him the Sacred Scroll, right?**" Kurama asked.

"Well, by 'us' you mean me. So yeah, he must have tried to steal that scroll on his own then." Naruto snickered. Kiba was giving Naruto a weird look wondering why Naruto was talking to himself.

Iruka was explaining that now that they were Genin, they'd be assigned to squads. He went on about the roles of the Genin and what they entailed. All of the students were falling asleep. He finally announced the squads that they were assigned to. Sakura was upset that she was with Naruto but happy that she was with her Sasuke-kun. Iruka then called for a lunch break. Everyone decided to leave for lunch. Well, everyone except Naruto, who decided to carry the collapsed Hinata to the Hokage Monument for lunch. He set her down under a tree and took out what he brought with him. He had 2 sandwiches that he made. 1 for lunch and 1 for incase he was still hungry. His quick thinking helped him in the end. Hinata began to stir. She was thinking that she dreamt of Naruto asking her out on a date. As she stirred, though, she realized that she wasn't by her desk at the Academy. She was with her beloved Naruto. She then quickly apologized for fainting in front of him.

"Hey. You don't need to apologize. I completely understand." Naruto said with a big grin and then handed her a sandwich.

Hinata's face got bright red and decided to share her rice balls with Naruto. All that came out of her mouth was "h-h-here!"

Naruto looked at her and asked, "For me?" Hinata vigorously nodded and Naruto replied with a "Sankyuu Hinata" and a kiss on her cheek.

Hinata's face turned tomato red but she wouldn't dare faint twice in front of him. She just silently ate her sandwich and rice balls. After they were done, they headed back to the Academy to meet up with their squads. Naruto told her what squad she was in since she was out cold when Iruka was announcing them. She thanked him for lunch and went over to her teammates, Kiba and Shino.

Naruto decided to wait with Sakura and Sasuke. As they waited, Naruto realized that Kakashi-sensei was going to be a few hours late. He was gonna have a little fun with this since he had a few hours. He decided to get Sakura and Sasuke in on it to. Sakura was on look out while Sasuke was using his fire-style to heat up the bucket of water. Naruto was getting ready for Sakura to give the okay to him to put it up. As soon as Sakura said that he was coming, Naruto put the bucket of boiling hot water above the door.

Kakashi was walking down the hall thinking about his new team. 'Hmm. Sensei's son and the Uchiha survivor are my next group, huh. Maybe they'll be the first team that will pass my test. Their academy records seem a lot like ours, Obito.'

When Kakashi entered the door, he saw the bucket coming down and quickly thought if this was an act of teamwork. When it landed, all three Genin were satisfied, which made Kakashi feel a little glad that they used teamwork. However, he was extremely upset that he was hit with boiling hot water. He said, "Hmm, let's see my first impression of all 3 of you. I despise you all." Sakura and Sasuke's grins turned into frowns while Naruto still was happy as can be. Secretly, Kakashi thought, 'Even though it was a prank, they did it together. Maybe there is hope for them after all.'

Kakashi took all three of them up to the roof top and said, "Let's give out introductions to get to know each other. Talk about your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that. I'll start. I'm Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you guys of my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future...? Hmm... Well, I have lots of hobbies." Everyone thought that the only thing he told them was his name. "Okay, you on the right, start."

"Oh, me? Well my name is Naruto Uzumaki. I have likes and dislikes. Everyone already knows my dream. And I also have lots of hobbies." Naruto said with a big grin.

Then it was Sasuke. He only said "hmph."

Then Sakura said, "I'm Sakura Haruno. The thing I like is... Well... The person I like is... Umm... Should I say my dream for the future...? Oh my! The thing I dislike...is Naruto! My hobby is..."

Kakashi sighed. 'I guess they need some work on those introductions.' He then said, "That's enough with introductions. We will start our duties tomorrow."

Sasuke and Sakura looked up when he mentioned duties. Sakura asked, "Sensei, what kinds of duties are you talking about?"

"Well, tomorrow, all of us are going to partake in survival training," Kakashi said.

Sakura looked up, "Survival training…?"

"Yes and I'll be your opponent, but this isn't going to be normal training," Kakashi said, but then he started laughing a lot.

"What's funny sensei," Sakura asked.

Kakashi managed to stop laughing to answer her. "No, it's just that when you guys hear this, you all are going to flip out. Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen as Genin and the rest will return to the Academy. This training is basically a super difficult test with a failure rate of 66%."

Sakura and Sasuke got really nervous while Naruto had his huge grin.

"See? I told you that you were going to freak out!" Kakashi did take note that Naruto's expression didn't change. He continued nonetheless. "We'll be on training field 7 tomorrow. Bring your shinobi tools and skip breakfast, unless you like throwing up." Sakura and Sasuke shuddered at Kakashi's last comment. Kakashi then handed each of them a sheet of information on tomorrow and then left in a puff of smoke.

"Alright guys, I'm gonna head out now. I have to get ready for my date tonight." Naruto said.

"Aren't you worried at all?! Kakashi-sensei just told us that we might have to get sent back to the Academy! Shouldn't you be focusing more on your ninjutsu than your date with Hinata?" Sakura was just really worried that Naruto was going to make her lose her dream of being on Sasuke's team.

"Nah, there's nothing that I can do now that will prepare me more for tomorrow. He didn't give us any other information so I can't really prepare for anything in particular. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get ready for my night," Naruto said as he also disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke and Sakura both looked dumbfounded when they saw him disappear. "Could Naruto always do that?" Sakura asked. Sasuke just shook his head.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto decided to grab some stuff for his date. He had all the food he needed for it, but he thought that he should make it a bit more romantic. This was going to be his first date with Hinata. He decided to head over to the Yamanaka Flower Shop to pick up Hinata's favorite flower. He entered to see Ino standing at the cash register.

"Hey Ino," Naruto said as he walked in the shop.

"Hello Naruto," Ino replied. "Are you here to pick up flowers for your date with Hinata?"

"Yeah, but how did you know?" Naruto asked.

"Everyone knows. We've all waited for you to get a clue." Ino said.

"Ah, I see." Naruto thought back to when everyone mocked him for taking so long to notice Hinata. "Well anyways, I wanted to make my date a bit more romantic." he said while browsing the flowers.

"Why not buy a bouquet of roses?" Ino suggested.

"Nah, I was wondering if you had any lilacs. They're her favorite." Naruto said.

Ino was surprised by who she was talking to. This wasn't the brainless dead-last that she's been at the Academy with for the past few years. He'd really matured. "Awwww, you know her favorite flower. That's sweet~! How many lilacs would you want?"

"10 would be enough," Naruto replied.

Ino decided to give them to Naruto for no charge. Seeing young love made her all mushy inside. She wished him luck on his date and Naruto left.

Naruto made a clone and sent it to where his date was going to be. He decided to have his date in the lake. Only problem was that he didn't have a boat. So he sent the clone to find a big tree and make a nice boat. With Naruto's present skills, it was easy to pull out a kunai and apply some wind element to the blade to cut a boat out of the tree.

Naruto then performed a transformation technique and went into the local store to purchase some candles. He then ran home, prepared dinner, and made another clone to set up the date. After, he took a shower and put on his usual outfit. He still had a few minutes before he had to meet Hinata so he took the liberty of putting his trash in the dumpster before he locked up his place.

Naruto approached Hinata and she was outside waiting in a white blouse and black skirt. She looked extra nervous when she saw him arriving.

Naruto said, "Hi Hinata! I hope I didn't make you wait long."

"O-oh, n-n-no N-N-Naruto. I w-was only o-out h-here for a m-m-minute," she replied.

"Oh really? Thank goodness. You look really beautiful tonight, Hinata," Naruto said with a big grin. Hinata's face got a little red as she heard his words. "Anyways, let's head over to the lake. I think you'll like what I set up," he said.

Hinata gave a little confused look. 'I wonder what is at the lake,' she thought to herself and followed him.

On their way to the lake, they talked about their senseis to each other. Well, Naruto talked about Kakashi-sensei while Hinata just listened patiently and smiled. She was a bit scared when she heard that 66% of the Genin were going to be sent back to the Academy. But Naruto assured her that they'd do well so she felt better.

When they finally reached the lake, Hinata's eyes flew open with astonishment. There was a boat that had food and a bouquet of flowers in them. Plus there were lighted candles floating on small pieces of wood in the lake (Naruto decided to make the candles float with the extra pieces of wood from the boat). Hinata was at a loss for words when Naruto guided her to the boat. 'Maybe he really does like me' she thought.

She did notice that something was off. The boat had no paddles. As she entered the boat and Naruto pushed the boat into the lake, she was amazed when she saw that Naruto was pushing the boat while standing on the water. "N-N-Naruto? H-How are y-you d-doing that?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, this? I just picked it up after seeing some other ninja walking on water. Pretty cool, huh?" Naruto said with a snicker. Hinata always knew that Naruto had worked hard alone, but she didn't know that he'd been so amazing.

As Naruto pushed the boat a little farther, he jumped into the boat. As they got to near the center of the lake, Naruto took out his homemade dinner. There was rice and curry. He gave a serving to Hinata and then served himself. Hinata took one bite of it and her eyes began to sparkle. "N-N-Naruto-kun. This i-i-is a-a-ama-a-azing." Hinata said.

Naruto smiled. "Thanks Hinata. Maybe I will make a good husband one day." Naruto said with a big goofy grin.

Hinata's eyes went wide and her blood rushed to her face. 'Husband?! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Maybe he wants me to be his wife! Naruto would definitely be a great husband! Maybe he really really likes me! Okay! Don't faint! Whatever you do, DON'T FAINT!' Hinata thought while different scenarios ran through her head. Naruto took note that Hinata's face was redder than ever.

Naruto looked at the girl he loved. She was unfortunately still pretty nervous around him. He would need to break her out of her shell. He spent the rest of the time asking her yes or no questions. She either nodded or shook her head. They both enjoyed their time together, but as the time flew by and to Hinata's dismay, Naruto decided to call it a night. He walked Hinata home and said goodbye to her.

He decided to get a little training in that night to see how sharp his skills were. He walked over to training ground 7 and worked on his ninjutsu. He used his Rasengan on a few of the trees there and practiced his teleports. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He could use his jutsu all fine. He was about to perform a summoning jutsu when Kurama stopped him.

"**Hey Kit, I wouldn't do that if I were you**."

"Why not Kurama?" the confused blond asked.

"**Because we traveled back in time. Even though we know you can perform the jutsu, you haven't signed the toad contract yet. Doing a summoning jutsu like that will send you to who knows where**." the fox said.

"*gulp* I see. Well thanks then. I guess I'll just have to wait for Ero-Sennin to give me the scroll." Naruto said.

"**Yeah, let's call it a night. You've got that test tomorrow.**" the fox said as he let out a yawn.

"Pshhh, that test should be a piece of cake. It's basically like I already know the answers to a written test," Naruto said proudly.

"**Knowing you, you would still probably fail it**," Kurama snickered.

"Arghhh! What do you know you dumb fox?!"

"**Shut up you brat! You're so dumb that if someone gave you a test with no wrong answers, you'd still fail!**"

"Oh yeah?! Then how come I passed the written test of the Chunin Exams?!"

"**That was a gift from God. He took pity on how stupid you were and made the test so easy that you didn't even have to write a single answer.**"

"You're just jealous because you know that if you took that test, you'd probably fail it," Naruto said while internally sticking his tongue out at the fox.

"**Ughhh! Talking to you is pointless! I'm losing brain cells from conversing with you! Just go home already! You know that you need to rest!**" the fox yelled at Naruto.

"…fine. But I'm not doing it because you told me to," Naruto said as he ran back to his home, showered, and went to bed. He didn't feel like worrying about waking up early because he knew Kakashi would be late.

Early the next day, Sasuke and Sakura walked to training field 7 only to see a lot of trees down and a few craters made. They both were confused but decided to not bother about it since they were still tired.

_2 hours later_

Naruto arrived at training field 7 only to hear Sakura scream, "YOU'RE LATE! COME ON NARUTO! IF WE DON'T PASS THIS TEST, WE ARE GOING TO BE SENT BACK TO THE ACADEMY!"

Naruto cleared his ears and said, "Jeez, no need to yell at me. He's still not here yet."

"For once, the blond has a point." said Sasuke.

Naruto sat down as he took out a pack of cards from his bag. "Knowing our late sensei, he won't be here for a little while. So, anyone wanna play?" Naruto offered.

"Naruto, we don't have time to be playing silly games. We are full-fledged ninja now. We should act more like adults not," Sakura told him.

_1 hour later_

Kakashi arrived at training field 7 to see that his team was busy playing cards by the logs. "Hey guys, how's everyone do-,"

"BOOM! A house of queens!" Naruto said as he put his hand down.

"Heh. Straight Flush." Sasuke snickered as he beat Naruto's hand.

Sakura sighed as all she had was a pair of aces. 'CHA! I'LL WIN NEXT ROUND!' Sakura thought to herself.

Kakashi stared dumbfounded. "Ummm... Guys?" Kakashi asked still shocked by their lack of attentiveness. "What happened to the training field?" he asked as he looked at the destruction around.

All of the Genin just gave him a clueless look.

"Well nevermind. We got this test to do. You guys have till noon to grab these 2 bells from me. Whoever doesn't get a bell will be tied to the stump, can't eat lunch, and most importantly will fail the test." Kakashi said with his eye in a U shape.

Sakura and Sasuke's stomach's growled while Naruto still had a big grin on his face. 'Ha! This time I remembered to eat breakfast.' the blond thought.

Sakura's eyes opened a little at Kakashi's words. "But sensei, doesn't that mean that one of us will get sent back to the Academy?"

"That's right. So just make sure that you're the one that gets a bell," Kakashi said with a U-shaped eye.

Sakura and Sasuke looked a lot more serious when he said this. 'I have to get a bell at all costs,' Sasuke thought to himself.

"Ready, start!" Kakashi yelled. Sakura and Sasuke scattered while Naruto began to walk sluggishly towards the trees.

Kakashi saw him walking sluggishly towards the trees and decided to give him a little punishment for his prank. "Gack! I'm not ready!" Naruto yelled aloud.

"Ninja must always be on their toes," Kakashi said. He made the sign of the tiger and ran towards him. "Let me teach you shinobi skill number 1, taijutsu. Konoha Secret Finger Jutsu. A thousand years of death!" Kakashi said as he was about to strike Naruto's ass.

Naruto jumped backwards over Kakashi and put his hand on Kakashi's back, leaving a teleportation seal. Then he did a few backflips towards the trees and masked his presence. Kakashi stood there and was surprised that Naruto was able to dodge that. 'Hmmm, he's more skilled than I thought. If this is what dead-last can do, I can't wait to see what they are going to throw at me.' He thought while taking out the book in his pouch.


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi waited while reading his book in the middle of training field 7. He was wondering how they'd plan their attacks.

Naruto, on the other hand, had found Sakura and Sasuke and had them together to figure out a plan.

"Guys. We can't beat him unless we work together. He's too strong." Naruto said.

"But one of us will have to return to the Academy." Sakura exclaimed.

"Would you rather us all return back to the Academy?" Naruto asked.

"Hmph. I guess there's no getting around it. We should think of a strategy." Sasuke said.

"Okay, so here's the plan." Naruto said.

_Moments later_

Kakashi was wondering if the three have given up. All of a sudden, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto all appeared in front of him. "So, you guys finally came out of hiding, huh. I was beginning to wonder if you all fell asleep on me." Kakashi said while still reading his book.

"Ha! Like we'd let you send us back to the Academy," Naruto exclaimed.

Naruto and Sasuke began striking Kakashi and Kakashi was easily dodging their attacks. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't land any hits on him. Kakashi then said, "Shinobi skill number 2, Genjutsu." He then formed some hand signs and leaves flew into the air. Sasuke and Naruto saw Sakura with wounds all over herself. She was missing an arm and bleeding everywhere. But they both knew that Sakura was behind them so they dispelled the Genjutsu.

"Worthless Genjutsu isn't going to stop us from taking those bells." Sasuke said.

"Well maybe not Genjutsu, but what about shinobi skill number 3, Ninjutsu?" Kakashi said as he flashed through some hand signs. Sasuke quickly recognized them and flew through the exact same hand signs.

They both yelled, "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"

Immediately, 2 fire balls clashed. As Kakashi and Sasuke were spitting out fire, Sakura flew some shuriken at Kakashi. Kakashi quickly got out of the way only to see a squad of Naruto charging at him.

'Shadow clones? Heh, so I guess he has more skill than I give him credit,' Kakashi thought. Kakashi fought them with ease and blocked all of their attacks. He was shocked when all of the clones disappeared, only to see that Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were charging at him. He quickly readied himself but was grabbed from behind. One of Naruto's clones had teleported to Kakashi's back and grabbed him. 'Th-This is the Fourth's Jutsu! How did Naruto learn his father's jutsu?' Kakashi thought. He was now stuck and about to get struck by the three Genin when the Genin had all struck a wooden log.

"Ahhhh, Naruto! The plan failed!" complained Sakura.

"Yeah dobe. He got away and time is almost up." Sasuke said.

Naruto laughed as his clone dropped something in Naruto's hand. "Oh really? Well I guess that means that these aren't the bells that we needed." Naruto said with a big grin. He tossed one bell to Sasuke and one bell to Sakura.

Sasuke gave an impressed look and Sakura shot up with glee. "We did it!" she exclaimed.

"Good job guys." Kakashi said while coming out of the woods. "You all did well in retrieving the bells."

"But Kakashi-sensei, Naruto doesn't have a bell now." Sakura said with a confused look.

"True, but Naruto did touch a bell, and that's good enough for me." Kakashi said with his eye in a U shape. "The point of this exercise was to see if you guys had teamwork. And after fighting you guys, it's obvious that you all have teamwork. Why do you think that we'd set you all up into 3 man squads?" Kakashi continued. "None of you alone could take on a Jonin. But as a team, you all posed a greater threat." Kakashi walked over to the memorial and stared at it. "Those who don't follow the rules are trash. But those who abandon their friends are worse than trash. Since Naruto gave you guys the bells, he showed that he'd put you guys before himself."

Kakashi turned back to the three Genin and gave them a thumbs up. "This ends the test. All of you pass! Starting tomorrow, Team 7 will begin their missions." Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all smiled at this.

Team 7 began making its way into town when Kakashi stopped. "Sakura. Sasuke. Meet at the bridge at 8 o clock tomorrow morning. I need to have a little word with Naruto." A sweat dropped when Naruto heard his name. Sakura and Sasuke continued walking home.

Naruto turned to Kakashi-sensei with a grin on his face and asked, "Sup, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi had the U shape in his eye and walked with him. "Naruto, remember near the end when we were fighting? I believe your clone teleported to me and grabbed me from behind. Tell me Naruto, how did you learn how to perform the Hiraishin no Jutsu?"

Naruto asked the fox in his head, 'Do you have any excuse because I'm stuck.'

"**Heh, Kakashi is sharp. Hmm... Let's see. How about telling him that it came to you in a dream. Technically you did meet your father when he was inside you so you can tell him that he taught you the technique when you met me.**"

Naruto thought for a minute. "Well, my dad taught me." Naruto said with a smile.

Kakashi was shocked by his answer and then asked how his dad taught him the technique.

"Oh, well when I met the fox, I got to meet dad. Yeah, apparently he sealed some of his chakra along with Kurama 12 years ago." Naruto said.

"Who's Kurama?" Kakashi asked with a confused look.

Naruto's eyes became red with a slit down the middle. "**I'm Kurama. Nice to meet you Kakashi.**" the demon fox said.

"Wait... What?!" Kakashi asked with an even more confused look.

Naruto's eyes returned to normal and then said, "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that me and the fox are friends now. I address him by his name, Kurama. Don't you guys know that every tailed beast has a name?" Naruto asked with a smile.

Kakashi thought for a moment. 'Well... Sensei was pretty good with seals. It's just like him to do something like that.'

"Well Naruto, you are one of the most unpredictable ninjas in the world. But, now we have another ally. And it must've been nice to finally meet your father." Kakashi said with his eye in a happy U shape.

"Yeah! Dad is really cool!" Naruto said remembering his dad.

"But Naruto. Why didn't you tell anyone that you befriended the fox?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh. Well I just didn't feel the need to. I mean I know people already don't like me because he's inside me. Why bother telling anyone that I can communicate with him, too? Wouldn't that make them think that the fox could go on a rampage anytime he wanted to?" Naruto said.

"I guess you have a point. But we have to go and tell Lord Hokage right away." Kakashi said.

"Fine..." Naruto said as they both made their ways to the Hokage mansion.

_At the Hokage mansion_

"Well if it isn't Naruto and Kakashi. Tell me, what Naruto has done this time." Lord Hokage said with a sigh.

"You kidding me old man?! I didn't do anything wrong this time!" Naruto said defensively.

"Actually Hokage-sama, I just wanted to tell you something that I think you should know." Kakashi continued. "Naruto has told me that he befriended the fox... erm... I mean Kurama."

The old Hokage's eyes opened wide with shock. "Really?! Is this true, Naruto?"

"Well yeah. He isn't that bad when you get to know him. He doesn't do much. He usually sleeps like he's a tanuki, hehe." Naruto said happily.

"I see. Well I'm glad that Konoha has another friend. But if it's alright with you and Kurama, can I ask him a few questions?"

"Sure. Let me just switch over to him." Naruto said. All of a sudden, his whiskers darkened and his eyes became that of a fox's.

"**You called?**" Kurama said.

"Yes. Kurama, right? I just want you to answer some questions if you're alright with that." the Hokage said.

"**Sure.**"

"Well first off, why did you attack Konoha 12 years ago?" the Hokage asked.

"**I didn't willingly attack Konoha. As you already know, I was inside of Kushina Uzumaki. She was pregnant with this brat here. But when a Jinchuriki is pregnant, the seal binding us weakens."**

Lord Hokage said, "Yes, I remember now. Minato informed me that when the host is pregnant, the energy needed for the seal transfers over to the fetus. But, Minato is an expert on seals. I don't see how you could've escaped."

"**Under normal conditions, I wouldn't have been able to escape. But, they weren't normal conditions. You see, someone else knew that Kushina was pregnant and planned to control me to wreak havoc in the village**," Kurama said.

Kakashi and Lord Hokage both listened intently.

"**I don't want either of you to freak out about what I'm going to tell you. I know who caused the attack 12 years ago. The person that did so was... Obito Uchiha.**"

Kakashi's face was full of shock. "How is that possible?! I saw him die before my eyes! He was crushed by a boulder!"

'Kurama, I don't think we should tell them about Madara yet. We don't know how this will play out. So let's just stick with the event 12 years ago.' Naruto told the fox in his head.

"**Well he is alive today. I'm good at sensing chakra and I can guarantee that it was him. It's the same chakra as that brat with goggles when Kushina used to visit your team.**" Kurama told them both. "**He's gotten really strong. He was able to break me out of Kushina and take control over me with his Sharingan.**"

"It is true that the power of the Senju and Uchiha are able to take control of tailed beasts." the Hokage said.

"**You guys need to be careful. He's stronger than you would think. He has the Mangekyo Sharingan.**" Kurama said.

"Wh-What? How did he get that?" Kakashi asked.

"**It is said that when a Sharingan user loses a close friend, that pain manifests itself as power. He must have seen a loved one die.**" Kurama said.

Kakashi's thoughts drifted back to him killing Rin. 'Wait a second. When I killed Rin, I felt excruciating pain. I felt stronger, but after that I passed out. We were surrounded by the enemy, but when I came to, they were all dead. Was Obito the cause of this? Did he kill those Hidden Mist ninja? If so, then that must have been when he awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan. But wait! If he has that ability, does that mean that I may have it, too?'

"Thank you, Kurama. You've cleared a lot of questions we had." Lord Hokage said.

"**If that's all, then I will take my leave.**" Kurama said as Naruto's features returned.

"So. Did you get everything you needed to get?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. Naruto you may leave now." Lord Hokage said.

"Alright. Catch you later Kakashi-sensei."

As Naruto left, Kakashi and Lord Hokage began their serious conversation.

"I can't believe he's still alive. But why hasn't he come back? What's he been doing all this time?" Kakashi asked. But, then he thought about how he killed Rin and thought that maybe he was the reason that Obito became evil.

"I don't know, but we can't worry about how he became the way he is now. We must assume the worst. He's now an enemy of Konoha. He's a threat that we must deal with." Lord Hokage said.

"I understand." Kakashi said with a sad look on his face.

"Okay. Well thank you Kakashi for informing me about this. You may leave now."

As Kakashi left, he thought about Obito and the Hokage's words. 'He is a threat and it's my duty to deal with him. But, those who abandon their friends are worse than trash. Isn't that right, Obito?'

_With Naruto_

Naruto was walking back to his place when an idea hit him.

'Hey Kurama. Is there still a way to talk to my dad since I'm never going to have to accidentally release you again?' Naruto thought back to when Kurama was almost released during the battle with Pain.

"**Well now that you mention it, I can sense your dad's chakra and your mom's chakra inside of me right now. Wanna chat with them?**" the fox asked.

'That would be great! They can see what I've seen so they probably know about how I came from the future. Let's get home first.' Naruto thought to the fox.

Naruto quickly got home and sat on his bed. He then closed his eyes and went into the space with Kurama and him inside of it. "Okay, Kurama, can you summon their chakras here?" Naruto asked.

"**Hang on. I'm trying to pinpoint them. Ah! There they are. And here they come**." the fox said as two large balls of chakra came forward. They soon materialized as Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.

Naruto got all happy and yelled, "Mom! Dad!" He quickly jumped up onto both of them, knocking them both back.

"Arghhh... Naruto, I know that we are inside your mind, but that still hurts, you know!" Kushina yelled.

"Hehe... I see that you've been quite busy." Minato said while looking at the fox. He was proud that his son was able to master the fox's power and use it efficiently.

**"Heh, Kushina, Minato. I think you know what happened by reading the brat's mind, right**?" the fox asked.

"Yeah Kurama. Naruto, I can't believe you opened up my time traveling scroll." Minato said with a sigh. "It was only supposed to be used in case I forgot something important like a meeting. I would've never guessed that you'd send yourself back 10 years into the past. You must've had an enormous amount of chakra to pull that off. It took nearly all of my chakra to just go back a few minutes."

Naruto was about to explain that he had some of the powers of the Sage of Six Paths when he was interrupted by a certain red head. Kushina had smacked the back of Minato's head. "IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT YOU CAN'T BE ON TIME TO YOUR OWN MEETINGS! AND THEN YOU MADE A SCROLL BEHIND MY BACK WHEN I'VE THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE FINALLY BECOMING PUNCTUAL!" Kushina bellowed.

Naruto just laughed at his parents' quarrel.

"Okay okay okay. Maybe making the time scroll wasn't the best idea to make it on time to meetings. But it's still an amazing jutsu to come up with." Minato said defensively.

"You and your inventions. It's because of you that our son decided to invent his stupid Sexy Jutsu!" Kushina yelled at him.

A sweat dropped from Naruto's face when she mentioned his own invention.

Kushina quickly went on the offensive, "YOU BETTER NOT BE USING THAT JUTSU ANYMORE! IT'S PROFOUND AND A DISGRACE TO NINJUTSU EVERYWHERE!" Kushina yelled.

"But but but, it has helped me a lot in the past. It's great for distractions and diversions." Naruto defended with a smile.

"THE ONLY PERSON THAT JUTSU WOULD WORK ON WOULD BE JIRAIYA-SENSEI!" she screamed.

"Th-That's not entirely true. I know a lot of ninja that it would work on, too," Naruto said as he remembered using it as a distraction on Kaguya.

Minato sighed as he saw his wife getting angrier at Naruto defending his jutsu. Then Minato intervened, "Naruto, I know about Obito and I want to say sorry. If I had been a better sensei, I could have known it was him. I'm always late when it comes to important things. I let Obito get hurt, I let Rin die, and I left it all on Kakashi's conscience."

"Oh honey. Don't beat yourself up too much. It was out of your control. We can't do anything about it." Kushina said.

"I know. But Naruto, can you please save him?" Minato pleaded.

"Of course, dad. He's an honorary Leaf shinobi. I'll bring him back, definitely." Naruto said with a smile.

"Thanks, Naruto. I hate to say this, though. Our time is running short. We need to wrap things up here." Minato said sadly.

Naruto pouted as he realized that the time he had with them was short. But he wanted to get his thoughts out to them. "Dad. Mom. You've both sacrificed a lot so that I could live. Thanks for everything. I couldn't have asked for better parents."

Kushina had a tear in her eye. "Ohhhhh Naruto! Thank you for being such a forgiving son. Thank you for letting me be your mother and letting Minato be your father. We're sooo sorry for the trouble we've caused you."

"Mom! It's no trouble at all! I mean I can get the villagers to like me and I'll make lots of friends! But you guys gave me a pal that'll stay with me for a lifetime." Naruto said while looking at Kurama. Naruto then looked at both his parents and said, "I'll become a cooler ninja than you, dad, and a stronger ninja than you, mom."

Minato and Kushina both smiled and wished him luck in life before finally disappearing into nothing.

Naruto looked back at Kurama with a few tears in his eyes. "Thanks Kurama. That was the best thing anyone has ever done for me!" he told the fox.

Kurama looked back at the blond and said, "**No problem kit.**"

Naruto then opened his eyes to see that it was dark outside. He went down and headed over to Ichiraku's to grab some grub. He said hello to Ayame and old man Teuchi.

"Hey old man! Can I get 1 pork ramen, today?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, Naruto. One pork ramen coming up!" the elderly man said.

Ayame came up to Naruto and asked, "Hey Naruto, who was that girl that you were walking home last night? She was really pretty."

"Oh. That was Hinata. I was walking her back from our date." Naruto said enthusiastically.

"Oh how cute!" Ayame said as she pictured both of them together.

"Hey Naruto. Next time you come here with Hinata, you guys can help yourselves to some ramen. My treat!" Teuchi said.

"Wow! Really?! Thanks old man!" Naruto said with a smile on his face.

After Naruto finished his ramen, he paid Teuchi and headed back to his place. It was late so he thought that he might as well call it a day. He wasn't looking forward to seeing that cat tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

_The Next Day_

Naruto woke up fairly early. It was 7 o clock in the morning. He yawned while stretching. Today was the day that Team 7 would start taking on missions. He wasn't looking forward to the D-rank missions he'd have to complete. He got out of bed and made himself some toast. He then showered, got dressed, and grabbed his breakfast to go.

He went over to the bridge that the team was supposed to meet at and made it before his other two teammates. Sakura arrived a few minutes later and Sasuke arrived right at 8.

"Morning guys~" Naruto said with a yawn.

"Morning," Sakura said while half asleep.

Sasuke just pouted.

"We still got a few hours before Kakashi arrives. What do we do?" Naruto asked.

"A little early for cards, isn't it, dobe?" Sasuke said.

_2 Hours Later_

Kakashi had arrived at the meeting spot and was ready to give his excuse. "Hey guys. Sorry I'm late. I had to help an old lady-"

"Haha, I beat you Sasuke! Now you have to treat me to some ramen!" Naruto yelled.

"Hmph! Lucky bastard! Double or nothing!" Sasuke yelled back at him.

"Fine by me! The more ramen, the better!" Naruto retorted.

A sweat drop fell from Kakashi's face. "Um... guys? Don't you want to go get some missions?" Kakashi asked.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR BEING LATE!" all three Genin yelled. Kakashi sighed.

Team 7 made it to the Hokage mansion and picked up their first mission. The daimyo's wife's cat had gone mission. Their mission was to retrieve it. Naruto sighed and told them to wait outside the Hokage mansion. He then made 100 shadow clones and placed a teleportation seal in front of the Hokage mansion.

_5 Minutes Later_

Team 7 was waiting in front of the Hokage mansion when a Naruto clone had teleported to them with an angry cat in his arms. They headed up to see Lord Hokage and returned the cat to the daimyo's wife.

Lord Hokage was shocked at the speed of which the mission was completed. No one had finished that mission that fast. "Good work Team 7." the elderly man said. "I have another mission for you all. A shop owner needs his store painted. Are you all up for the job?" he asked.

Team 7 just sighed at the mission they got. "We'll gladly take that mission." Kakashi said with his eye in a U shape.

Team 7 quickly made their way to the shop and the shop owner gave them all brushes and paint.

Naruto sighed. He didn't want to stay here all day painting. "Guys, just let me handle this. It'll be over soon." Naruto made another 100 shadow clones and they painted the shop in a matter of minutes.

"DONE!" all of the Naruto clones yelled.

The shop owner came out surprised at how fast the team had finished the job. He decided to give everyone some tea. He was hesitant to give Naruto any tea, but when the Jonin leader gave him a glare, he quickly gave Naruto his cup of tea.

Team 7 then headed back to the Hokage mansion and claimed their reward. Lord Hokage just gave them another surprised look. They were completing these missions at a very fast rate. He was about to assign them another mission when Naruto spoke up.

"Lord Hokage, can't you give us a better mission? All we've been doing is simple chores. We should get a real mission." Naruto said.

"You three are just Genin. You're inexperienced and haven't had enough missions to get a higher ranking mission." the Hokage responded.

"But Lord Hokage, if we keep doing these sort of missions, there won't be any other D-rank missions for the other teams." Naruto said.

Everyone just stared at Naruto. He actually made some sense.

"You bring a good point, Naruto. How about I give you guys a harder mission? This one will be a C-rank mission. You all will be providing protection to a bridge builder from the Wave Country. You are to protect him from any danger so that he may complete the bridge."

Team 7 nodded. "So who's our client?" Sakura asked.

"I am," said the old man who entered the room. He dressed in poor clothing and reeked of alcohol. "I am Tazuna, the bridge builder. So this is the group of ninja that are supposed to be protecting me? They are just a bunch of brats, especially the shortest one with the stupid looking face. Are you really a ninja?" Tazuna said while taking a swig at his sake.

Naruto quickly took out his shuriken and threw them towards the bridge builder. He ended up making an outline of the bridge builder's body. "Still wondering if I'm a ninja?" Naruto asked with a grin.

A sweat dropped from the bridge builder and he said, "Uh… No. You guys will do."

"YOU CAN'T ATTACK YOUR CLIENT!" Iruka yelled at the top of his lungs.

"I didn't hit him, though! It worked out in the end." Naruto said with a smile.

Iruka just sighed with a face palm.

Kakashi and Lord Hokage were impressed, though. It took quite a bit of skill to make an outline of the man out of shuriken on the spot. Have they been underestimating Naruto's abilities?

"Well okay guys." Kakashi said. "You should be at the gate at 10 tomorrow morning. It's going to be a long trip so pack wisely."

After that, the Genin left the room.

"Sorry about him, Tazuna." Kakashi said with his arm behind his head.

"Heh, if they can get the job done, then they are fine." he said uneasily.

"A bunch of Genin should be fine against any bandit gang." Lord Hokage said with a smile.

"Yeah..." the bridge builder said.

Naruto had decided to prepare for the mission he'd have. He knew that fighting Haku and Zabuza wouldn't be an easy task. Kurama picked up on his worries and said, "**Don't worry kit. Last time we faced them, you didn't have me. But things should go swimmingly with me around.**"

The blond got a bit annoyed at Kurama's bad pun. "I know. But I want to make sure nothing bad happens. I don't want to have to kill them this time so I'll need to prepare."

"**Well WATER you waiting for then?**" the fox snickered.

The blond sighed as he performed his transformation jutsu so he could buy supplies. Naruto quickly got his supplies and headed home. When he arrived, there was a bento box in his mail box with a note on it. The note read:  
Dear, Naruto-kun  
Thank you for taking me out on that great date. I really had lots of fun. Can you meet me at Ichiraku's Ramen tonight at 7? I'll be waiting there.  
Hinata

There was even a little chibi version of Hinata and Naruto at the bottom of the page. Naruto smiled at his love's letter. He then went inside and prepared to eat what she made for him. There was a rice ball that looked like him and a cookie that looked like her. There was also some shuriken shaped vegetables on the side. He ate all of them with glee.

After finishing his lunch, he threw the box into the garbage pail. He then proceeded with taking out all of his kunai. He set a teleportation seal on each kunai, just like his dad had. Fortunately, the store had the kunai that his dad had so he wouldn't confuse his kunai with the regular ones.

Naruto checked the time and saw that it was only 3 p.m. He'd have 4 hours before he'd need to meet Hinata at Ichiraku. Naruto decided to go to the local store and see if there was anything worth getting. He decided to buy a disposable camera. He then left to train. He went to the training field 7 and decided to summon a clone. He then had the clone's consciousness switch over to Kurama's consciousness.

"Mind helping me train, Kurama?" Naruto asked.

"**Eh... It'll kill some time.**" the fox said.

"Okay, but we are only allowed to use taijutsu. Otherwise, we'd be destroying most of this training field." Naruto said.

"**Awwww... You're no fun.**" the fox replied.

After training with Kurama for 2 hours, Naruto decided to release the clone and head back to his home to shower. After showering, he got ready to meet Hinata for his date. He brought his disposable camera, too. He was a bit early. Hinata arrived 5 minutes before 7 and began blushing when she saw Naruto. He waved at her and began the conversation.

"Hiiii Hinata!" he yelled.

"H-h-hello N-N-Naruto-kun," she said, stuttering.

"Um, Hinata, I got this camera and was wondering if we could take some photos together, tonight." he said with a smile.

Having photos with Naruto would be wonderful. She could always look at them and feel happy. They'd also serve as memories of today. She smiled and nodded.

"Alright! Well, let's head on inside and get some ramen!" he said enthusiastically.

As they both entered the restaurant, Naruto yelled, "Hey old man!" to Teuchi.

"Well if it isn't my favorite customer, Naruto. And I see you've brought your date. You're Hinata, right? Naruto's been talking all about you." Teuchi said with a smile.

Hinata blushed at the comment. 'He's been talking a lot about me?' she thought happily.

"Oh dad! Stop it! You're embarrassing them!" Ayame yelled from behind the counter. Ayame couldn't help but giggle at Hinata's blush, though.

"Oh alright. So, Naruto. What will you two be having?" Teuchi asked.

"Ch-ch-chicken r-ramen p-please," Hinata said while stuttering.

"I'll have a pork ramen, old man." Naruto said happily.

"Alright! One chicken ramen and one pork ramen coming up!" Teuchi said as he began preparing the ramen for them.

Naruto looked at Hinata's neck to still see that her headband was there. "So, Hinata. I'm glad that we both were able to pass the Genin test!" Naruto said with enthusiasm.

"M-m-me t-too!" Hinata replied. "D-d-did y-you l-like m-m-my f-food?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh yeah! Your cooking was the best. You know, one day you'll make a great wife!" Naruto replied with a big grin. Hinata just blushed a lot at his comment.

"Awwww! You guys look so cute together!" Ayame said from behind the counter. This only made Hinata blush more (if that was even possible).

"Hey Ayame! Start cutting the vegetables! I need to add them to the ramen soon!" Teuchi told his daughter.

"Alright! I'm on it!" she replied.

"So Hinata, what did you guys do today?" Naruto asked the shy Hyuga.

"T-t-train!" she replied.

"Ahhhh, well my team went on a couple D-rank missions. They were pretty boring, but we got them done in a few minutes." Naruto continued. "But guess what! My team gets to go on a C-rank mission tomorrow! We are going to be guarding this bridge builder and escort him to the Wave Country! Isn't that awesome?!"

Hinata nodded and smiled at the blonde's enthusiasm. But then her smile turned to a frown. If he was going to the land of waves, then he'd be gone for a while. "H-how l-l-long w-will you b-be gone, N-N-Naruto?"

"Ah, well it could be a week or 2. I'm not so sure. It depends on what kind of trouble we run into." Naruto said while remembering Haku and Zabuza. "But, Hinata, maybe when I get back, we could hang out?" Naruto asked with a grin.

Hinata nodded again with a slight blush.

"Alright guys! Ramen's ready!" Teuchi said while giving the ramen to Naruto and Hinata.

"Alright!" Naruto said while beginning to eat his food.

After he finished, he patted his belly with glee. The ramen was delicious. Hinata was drinking the last bit of soup from the bowl. Luckily, Naruto had his camera in hand to capture the moment. Hinata didn't even notice.

When she finished, Naruto asked Teuchi how much he owed him. Hinata was a bit down because she wanted to pay the bill after Naruto had taken her out on a date the other day. Teuchi smiled and said, "It's on the house guys!" Naruto and Hinata bowed and said their goodbyes to Teuchi and Ayame and walked merrily on their date.

They decided to hang out in the park. Naruto asked Hinata if it were okay if they got some shots together with his camera. She nodded with a smile. Naruto said that after the park, they could head over to the store and get 2 sets of photos for each of them.

Naruto asked Hinata to wait outside while he went and got the photos. A confused Hinata reluctantly agreed to his request. Naruto then came out and said that he'd give the photos to her after they reached her household. This only made Hinata curious. 'Why would he have me wait to get the photos?' she thought.

When they reached her place, he handed her the photos. Her eyes went wide when she found the photo of her drinking the ramen. "N-N-Naruto!" she stammered while turning around. "When d-did you t-take this?!"

"Ahahah, I took it when you were just finishing up." he said with a laugh but realized she was very upset. "Ah, I'm sorry Hinata." he said apologetically.

She turned to face him but was still a little embarrassed.

Naruto then got a killer idea. "If you want~, we can kiss and make up." Naruto said with a sly foxy grin.

Hinata's face then turned beat red. She nodded vigorously and didn't want to miss the chance. She slowly approached him, face as red as ever, and then finally met her lips with his. It was one of the best feelings she's ever had and she wished it would last forever. She lost track of time as they were kissing for a few minutes. Naruto had to pull away with a smile and slight blush on his face.

"W-Wow, Hinata. I hope that I'll have to make up with you a lot," the blond said with a chuckle. Hinata turned redder from that comment.

Hinata bowed and thanked him for the night, then quickly ran inside to the Hyuga household.

Naruto smiled, knowing that his date went better than he expected. He then began walking back to his house. When he got there, he was decided to pin up all the photos he had on his wall. Then, too tired to take a shower, he passed out on his bed. He'd have a big day tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

_The Next Day_

Naruto woke up with a yawn. Today was the day that he'd be leaving for his C-rank mission. He checked his clock to see that he had an hour before he had to meet at the gate. He showered, got dressed, packed, and left for the gate. He arrived there 6 minutes before 10.

His team was with Tazuna. Tazuna looked a little worried while Sakura and Sasuke looked bored. Kakashi was just reading his book. "Hey guys!" Naruto yelled as he came up next to his teammates.

Sakura nodded at him while Sasuke paid no mind to him.

Kakashi said, "Well let's get going then. It'll take a while to get to our destination."

The group then began to march off. Breaking the moment of silence, Sakura asked, "Um, Tazuna-san, can I ask you something?"

"What?" Tazuna asked.

"You're from the Wave Country, right?" she asked.

"What about it?" he replied.

"Um. Kakashi-sensei, don't they have ninja in that country, too?" she asked the Jonin.

"No. Not in the Wave Country. But, in most other countries they do. The cultures and customs may be different, but hidden villages exist, and so do ninjas." Kakashi said.

The Jonin then took out a scroll with a map of the Five Great Nations. "To the many countries of the continent, the existence of a shinobi village means military power. This is how they hold and maintain advantages over each other. But, it's not that the villages rule the countries, they merely stand equally with the country's government. A small island country like the Wave Country doesn't receive much interference from the larger countries and may not need a shinobi village. Within the many shinobi villages, Leaf, Mist, Cloud, Sand, and Stone are large and powerful, which referred to as 'The Great Five Shinobi Countries.' And, these are the only countries whose leader receives the name 'Kage.'" Kakashi continued. "The 'Five Kages' are Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage. They reign over the thousands of ninja in the world."

"Wow! Hokage-sama is the best!" Sakura said with a smile. Inner Sakura just thought, 'That lame geezer is that incredible? Sounds fishy...'

"You guys just doubted Hokage-sama, didn't you?" Kakashi asked as the three Genin flinched. The Jonin chuckled. "But don't worry. There won't be any ninja combat in a C-rank mission." Tazuna looked down at his comment. Sasuke noticed the sad look in Tazuna's eyes.

They were walking through the forest for a while now. Nothing suspicious had come up. But, they were nearing a puddle in the middle of the forest. Kakashi thought it odd that there'd be a puddle in the forest when it hadn't rained for days. He noticed the ninja inside the puddle so he got himself ready for any sort of ambush. Naruto also noticed the puddle and remembered the Demon Brothers. He just got a killer prank that he could pull off.

"Hey guys. I need to take a leak." Naruto said while jumping up and down.

"NARUTO! DON'T SAY THAT IN FRONT OF A LADY!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Yeah yeah. I'm sorry." Naruto said as he began to urinate in the puddle.

Kakashi sighed. 'Well, nothing I can do about it now.' he thought as Naruto relieved himself.

The Demon Brothers were literally pissed. They were planning on ambushing the Jonin, but now they thought that they'd kill the kid first. They were so angry that they didn't notice that Naruto had put a transportation seal on the tree after he relieved himself.

As Naruto began walking towards the group, the Demon Brothers appeared out of the puddle. One brother threw the other over Naruto and they threw a chain around him. Naruto looked back and saw the Demon brothers. Everyone was surprised that Naruto was on the verge of death. Kakashi quickly threw some kunai at both of the brothers, but they just blocked them with their claws.

The brothers began to pull hard on the chain so that Naruto would rip to shreds, but all of a sudden, a yellow flash blinded them. When the flash disappeared, their captive disappeared and one of the brothers got a hard kick from behind them, getting knocked out.

"One down!" Naruto said after he knocked out one of the Demon Brothers.

Sasuke acted fast. He threw some shuriken at the second shinobi. The Demon Brother just blocked them again with his claw, but was so preoccupied that he didn't notice Sasuke slamming his fist into his face. "Two down." Sasuke said in a cool tone.

"Wow Sasuke! That was so cool!" Sakura said as she watched her crush walk over.

"Nice job, guys." Kakashi said in a happy tone. Then he turned his attention towards the bridge builder as he began tying up the assassins. "Tazuna."

"W-What is it?" Tazuna asked in a worried tone.

"I need to talk to you." Kakashi said in a serious tone. "These guys are Chunin Class ninja from the Hidden Mist Village. They are ninjas known to keep fighting no matter what."

"How did you guys read our movements?" Gozu (the older twin of the Demon Brothers) asked.

"On a sunny day like this when it hasn't rained in days... a puddle shouldn't even exist." Kakashi said in a cool tone.

"Why did you let these brats fight when you knew that?" the bridge builder asked.

"If I had wanted to... I could have killed these two instantly, but there was something I needed to know. I wasn't sure who these guys were after." Kakashi said.

"What do you mean?" Tazuna replied.

"I mean, were they after you or one of us? We haven't heard that there were ninjas after you. Our mission was to simply protect you from thieves or gangs. This has now become at least a B-rank mission. This was supposed to be simple protection until you completed the bridge." Kakashi continued. "If it was known that ninjas were after you, this mission would have been an expensive B-rank. Since they went after Naruto, it's hard to tell whether you were their true aim. But, I have no reason to believe that some mist ninja would be after a leaf Genin. I think we both know who they were after. I'm sure you have a reason, but it causes problems when you lie about the mission details. We are now operating outside our duties."

"We aren't ready for this kind of mission. Let's quit! We can't take on other ninjas if we are only Genin!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Maybe we should return to the village." Kakashi said with a sigh.

"No way! We finally got a real mission! So what if our enemies are ninja. We can take them on no problem!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

Sasuke nodded in agreement with Naruto.

"Jonin, I want to talk to you." Tazuna said to Kakashi. "You're right. This job is most likely outside of your duties. It turns out that a super dangerous man is after my life."

"Super dangerous man?" Kakashi asked. Tazuna just nodded. "Who?"

"You've probably at least heard his name before. He's the wealthy shipping magnate. A man named Gato."

"Huh?! Gato? As in from Gato Transport? He's said to be the world's few extremely wealthy people." Kakashi said in astonishment.

"Yes." Tazuna said as he continued. "Officially he runs a large shipping company. But, secretly he sells drugs and other illegal items using ninjas and gang members to take over businesses and countries. He's a very nasty man. It was about a year ago when he set his eyes on the Wave Country. Through money and violence, he quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. Gato now has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. The only thing he has to fear is the completion of the bridge."

Sakura was beginning to piece it all together. "I see. Since you're building the bridge, you're the person that's in his way."

"So those ninja were hired by Gato?" Sasuke asked. Tazuna nodded again.

"But, what I don't understand is if you know ninjas could be after you, why did you hide that fact when you hired us?" Kakashi asked.

"Right now, the Wave Country is extremely poor. Even the Feudal Lord has no money. Of course, we don't have much either. Not enough for the expensive B-rank mission." Tazuna said in a low tone.

Tazuna continued. "Well... if you quit the mission now... I will definitely be killed... but don't worry about it! If I die, my cute 10-year-old grandson will just cry for a few days!" Tazuna said with a smile. "Oh yeah, and my daughter will live a sad life hating you leaf village ninja forever. But it won't be your fault. Not at all!"

A sweat dropped from Kakashi's face. "Well, I guess we have no choice. We will have to protect you at least until you get back to your country." Tazuna hid his face of satisfaction from getting Kakashi to continue the mission.

_On the boat to Wave Country_

"We should see the bridge soon. The Wave Country is at the base of the bridge." the oarsman said. "We'll be there soon."

As they continued on, they longer route. The oarsman said, "Tazuna... It looks like we've avoided detection so far, but just in case, we'll take the route that has vegetation. It will make the enemies harder to spot us."

"Thanks." Tazuna replied.

As they approached the shore, the oarsman said farewell. Now Team 7 and Tazuna began their trek to his home.

"Ok! Get me home safely." Tazuna told them.

"Yes yes..." Kakashi said with a sigh. 'If we get attacked again, it will surely not be a Chunin, but a Jonin at least. Good grief. What have I gotten us into,' Kakashi thought as the group began to walk through the forest.

"**Hey kit. I sense something in that bush over there**."

Naruto responded and threw a kunai into that bush. Kakashi also noticed something in that bush.

"Naruto! Don't go scaring us like that!" Sakura yelled.

"I'm sure that there was something there." Naruto said as he went to check the bush. He saw that a white bunny was there scared out of its mind. 'Wow. Deja vu.'

"**Kit. Someone used the Substitution Technique just now.**" the fox said.

'Ohhhh. So I did sense something.' the blond thought happily.

"**Just pay attention!**" Kurama stammered.

All of a sudden, Kakashi yelled, "EVERYONE DOWN!" as a big sword flew through the air.

The sword hit a nearby tree and stuck to it. A tall bulky man jumped out of nowhere and appeared on top of the sword. He wasn't wearing a shirt and had bandages covering his mouth. He also had a Hidden Mist headband put on sideways.

Kakashi looked up at the ninja. "Well... Well... If it isn't the Hidden Mist's rouge ninja Zabuza Momochi. Everyone get back! This one is on a whole other level. It'll be a little tough unless I do this." Kakashi said while getting ready to reveal his covered eye.

"Well if it isn't Kakashi of the Sharingan eye. Sorry but the bridge builder is mine." Zabuza said.

Sasuke looked towards Kakashi with astonishment. 'Sharingan?!'

"Everyone! Surround and protect Tazuna. Don't enter this fight. That's the teamwork here." Kakashi said as he revealed his Sharingan. His eye looked like someone cut it down the middle, leaving a scar, but the Sharingan didn't look damaged at all. The Sharingan was blood red with 3 commas encircling the pupil. "Now, Zabuza. Let's do this."

"Ah... I already get to see the famous Sharingan. I'm honored." Zabuza said sarcastically. "When I was a part of the Hidden Mist's assassin team, my bingo book had quite a bit of information on you. Kakashi of the Sharingan eye: the man who has copied over 1000 jutsu, also known as Kakashi the Copy Ninja."

Sakura looked awed at her sensei. 'What's going on? First, the old Hokage and now sensei... I didn't know they were that awesome.'

Sasuke looked a bit suspicious now. 'Wait a minute. The Sharingan is a special technique that's only available to my clan, the Uchiha clan. Could he be...? No. It's only his left eye and he's not of Uchiha descent. But then, how does he have it?'

"Now let's cut the chit chat. I need to kill that bridge builder." Zabuza said. But as soon as he said it, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto moved into formation to protect Tazuna. "But it looks like I have to deal with you first, Copy Ninja Kakashi.


	7. Chapter 7

Kakashi and Zabuza gave each other a serious stare as they were getting ready to commence their battle. The air felt like it was tensing up with the killer intent they were emitting. Zabuza then grabbed his cleaver from the tree and jumped out onto the water. He then formed a hand sign and began channeling chakra.

Kakashi looked at him. 'He's releasing a large amount of chakra! I need to be ready.'

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu." Zabuza said as a thick mist began to form.

"He's gone!" Sakura said.

"He'll come after me first. Zabuza Momochi was a ninja of the Hidden Mist. He was known to be an expert in the art of silent assassination. You won't notice him until you're already dead. So everyone be on guard." Kakashi said.

"It seems that I've gotten quite a reputation now. I'm honored that the famous Kakashi would know me," Zabuza said through the mist.

"You're pretty high up in the bingo book, too. There's a reason why you're famous in silent killing," Kakashi replied.

Sakura and Sasuke both dropped some sweat. Naruto, on the other hand, decided to stand perfectly still and calm. His body was motionless and he didn't make a sound. His body was gathering all of the natural energy around him. In a few seconds, his eyes became that of a toads and he could sense his surroundings. He knew where Zabuza was hiding.

Then, in a low, intimidating voice, Zabuza said, "8 choices. Lungs, liver, spine, clevical vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, and the heart. Which one should I go for?" Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna shuddered at Zabuza's words.

Kakashi scanned his surroundings and couldn't pinpoint Zabuza's location. He then formed a quick hand sign and summoned an immense amount of chakra. Suddenly, a lot of the fog around him receded.

Sasuke, though, was getting a chill from the chakra. 'Wh-what an incredible amount of chakra. It feels like I'll be killed if I make a single move. The air feels so heavy. Experiencing this for a while would make any person go mad. This intensity between two Jonin... It feels like my very life is being squeezed out of me! I-I-I can't take it... It's overwhelming! I'd almost rather die now and get it over with...'

"Sasuke!" Kakashi said, noticing the uneasiness of his student. "Don't worry. I'll protect you all. I won't let my comrades die." he said with a happy reassuring face. Sasuke and Sakura both released a lot of tension from Kakashi's words.

"We'll see about that!" Suddenly, Zabuza appeared in between Team 7 and the bridge builder. Zabuza looked ready to strike.

Luckily, though, Naruto knew that Zabuza was there so he quickly jammed his kunai into the Jonin. Everyone turned to see Naruto stabbing Zabuza, but something wasn't right. Zabuza was bleeding water. Another Zabuza quickly appeared behind Naruto but Naruto also felt his presence and jumped backwards, right over Zabuza. He held his kunai at Zabuza's throat.

"Impressive brat. You were able to predict that I'd made a water clone. I must congratulate you Konoha shinobi. But it takes more than a few nice moves to beat me." As he finished his sentence, that Zabuza turned into water and a Zabuza behind him was ready to strike.

"Naruto! Look out!" Kakashi yelled.

Naruto gave a little chuckle as Zabuza slashed his cleaver through Naruto. Sakura gave a little scream as Naruto was cut in half. But, as Naruto fell, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Wh-wha?" Zabuza said surprised.

All of a sudden, Zabuza felt his arms and legs get struck by kunai. "Ninja must always be able to see through deception." Naruto said with a big grin on his face. His eyes were no longer that of a toad's.

Kakashi quickly rushed over to Zabuza and pulled the kunai out. Zabuza gave a little cry of pain but Kakashi knocked him out with a blow to the neck. He then tied up Zabuza and laid him next to a tree. He also pulled his headband over his Sharingan. "Nice work Naruto. You really pulled through when you needed to." Kakashi said with a smile.

Sasuke just stood there stunned. 'Huh?! Since when was I the scared ninja and Naruto was the star?! How did he get so powerful that he could defeat a Jonin all by himself?! Am I really this weak?!'

All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew. Everyone covered their eyes as a young boy wearing an Anbu mask appeared on top of a tree branch. He looked to be about 12 years old.

'Ah. It's nice to see Haku again.' Naruto thought with a smile.

"Thank you very much everyone. I have been searching for Zabuza for a long time." Haku said.

"That mask... You must be a Hunter-nin..." Kakashi said.

"Impressive. You're correct. I'm a member of the Mist's Hunter-nin team." Haku said. "Your battle is over now. I must dispose of Zabuza, since his body has many secrets." he said as he began to pick up Zabuza's body.

Naruto appeared behind Haku with a kunai to his back. "Don't move."

"Naruto! What are you doing?!" Sakura said with a scream. "He's one of us! He's a good guy!"

"You conveniently show up when Zabuza is defeated, huh. If your job really is to dispose of the body, why not do it here instead of take the body away?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi quickly caught on. "Naruto's right. You are supposed to deal with him right there. There'd be no need for you to move his entire body while he's still alive. If you need proof, you can just cut of his head and present it."

A sweat dropped from Haku's mask. "I'm impressed with Konoha. You really are great ninja." Haku said while immediately moving back.

Naruto reacted by throwing his special kunai at him, which Haku deflected with a senbon. Naruto teleported to the kunai and quickly knocked Haku out with a blow to the neck.

"Great job, Naruto." Kakashi said while tying up Haku. "That was impressive that you caught on to his plan so soon. If you hadn't, we'd be in big trouble later on."

"It was nothing." Naruto said with a big grin. "But Kakashi-sensei, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure." Kakashi said.

Naruto then went close to his ear and whispered, "Can we take them with us to Tazuna's place? I don't want them to die. I can sense that they aren't that evil."

"And how can you do that?" Kakashi asked as he was interested by the blonde's abilities.

"Oh. Well, when I activate my Kurama mode, I can sense feelings." Naruto replied.

"K-K-Kurama mode?" Kakashi asked dumbfounded.

"Yeah! That's when I use Kurama's chakra. It's sooo strong! Don't worry. I'll show you it later."

"**Yeah, just casually tell Kakashi that you can access my chakra and obtain power stronger than that of the Kages. It's not like that'll make him suspicious or scared, you idiot**," Kurama said to his idiot host.

"Okay... Well I don't entirely agree with you letting these two live, but I'll take your word for it." Kakashi said with his eye in a U shape. "Anyways, let's get back to the others."

As they walked back, Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna were wondering what Naruto and Kakashi talked about. But, they figured they knew what it was about since they were bringing Zabuza and Haku with them.

"So remind me one more time. Why are we bringing the people who tried to kill me with us?" Tazuna asked.

"Well you're the one that lied about this being a simple C-rank mission. So I don't think it's in your place to be telling us how to run things here." Kakashi said with a smile under his mask.

"Fair enough." Tazuna replied with a sweat drop.

Sasuke and Sakura didn't bother asking because they knew they wouldn't get a straight answer.

They finally all reached Tazuna's house. Tazuna went and opened the door for everyone. "Tsunami! I'm back!"

A young woman walked into the room. She looked to be 29 and she wore a pink shirt with a blue skirt. She had a really pretty face and a slender body.

"Father. You've returned. And is this your protection?" the young woman asked.

"Yeah. Everyone. I'd like to introduce you all to my daughter, Tsunami." Tazuna said.

Team 7 gave their greetings while putting Haku and Zabuza down on the ground.

"Uh. Father? Why are those two tied up?" Tsunami asked.

"Oh. Uh... Well, they are my assassins and I don't know why we still have them."

"What?!" Tsunami screamed. "Nononono! Not in my house! Take them outside!" she ordered.

Naruto didn't even respond. He just summoned a few clones and got them outside as fast as he could.

"I don't know how you Konoha ninja run things around, but we won't be having any guests that are trying to kill my father in this house! Understood?!" she said.

Everyone just nodded.

"Good." she said happily. Everyone still sweated a little. Tsunami then went into the kitchen to cook up some food.

"Yeah... Sorry about Tsunami. She's just been a bit protective since I've been risking my life to complete the bridge."

"No problem. I'll just go check up with Naruto." Kakashi said.

_With Naruto_

Haku and Zabuza were beginning to wake up. They had been stripped of their weapons and Zabuza's injuries had been treated.

"W-What is this? Where am I?" Zabuza asked as he awoke.

"Hi there." Naruto said with a smile.

"You! Untie me now you brat! I'll unleash my full fury on you!" Zabuza threatened.

"Hmmm. Bad choice of words considering how you're the one tied up." Naruto replied.

"What is it that you want with us?" Haku asked.

"I just thought that it'd be nice to talk." Naruto said.

"Heh. You're an interesting kid. Fine, I'll play your game. Let's chat." Zabuza said.

Kakashi then appeared out from behind the trees.

"I see you boys are having a nice time." Kakashi said with his eye in the U shape.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei. We were just getting to the good part." Naruto said. "Soooooo. Zabuza. Why work for Gato?"

"Heh. Isn't it obvious, brat. He's rich. No other reason I need." Zabuza said with a smirk.

"Yeah. But why would you sell yourself to this man just for money?" Naruto asked.

"I think I can answer that Naruto. You see, Zabuza planned a coup d-etat a while back to overthrow the Mizukage. Unfortunately for him, the plan failed and hunter-nin were sent after him. Now, he's got the gall to try and do it again. But in order to do that, he needs money. Lots of money. And Gato is the key to getting it." Kakashi finished.

"Ah. I see you've done your homework, eh Kakashi?" Zabuza said.

Naruto then sat down and closed his eyes. He meditated for a little bit before a golden chakra cloak surrounded him. He pulled out Kurama-mode. "I think it will be better to continue the conversation like this." Naruto said with his red eyes.

Kakashi felt overwhelmed. He never knew that Naruto would have this much chakra at his disposal. It feels as though he had become stronger than him. It was a bit to take in. Zabuza and Haku had a different reaction. They couldn't believe that this brat had this much chakra. They both dropped some sweat.

"Oh. Don't worry. I'm not using this to threaten you. I just need to use this to know what you're feeling. Now let's continue this conversation. Zabuza, why do you want to overthrow the Mizukage?" Naruto asked.

Zabuza calmed down a bit. His situation hadn't changed from a few moments ago so there was nothing more to be scared of. "You probably wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"The point of me going into this state was so I can tell if you're lying or not. Now please continue your explanation." Naruto said happily.

"Heh. I like your style, kid. Well here's my story. I don't have an evil motive trying to get rid of the Mizukage. The 4th Mizukage, Yagura, hadn't been acting like himself. He was levying the taxes and not making any policies to help the poor, whatsoever. He used to be a fair Mizukage, but a few years back, he changed. That's why I decided to try and overthrow him. It's obvious that the Mizukage shouldn't be granted that kind of power and cause this kind of turmoil among everyone."

"You say that, but by working for Gato, you're doing practically the same thing to these people in the Wave Country. You're no better than Mizukage." Kakashi said.

"Don't compare me to him!" Zabuza yelled.

"Well why don't you put yourself in our shoes? Aren't we basically doing the same thing?" Naruto asked him.

There was a long moment of silence. Zabuza was at a loss for words.

"You were so intent on getting the money you needed that you lost sight of what you were doing. Are you really proud of yourself?" Naruto continued.

"I'm just a shinobi. I'm just a tool for others to use." Zabuza replied.

"Tools don't think! You are more than a tool. You're human! It was your idea to get rid of the Mizukage, so don't tell me you're a tool!" Naruto yelled.

"Heh." Zabuza didn't know what else to say. This little kid just opened his eyes to what he was doing. "Kid, you talk too much." Zabuza said with a smile.

"But you're not denying that I'm right." Naruto said with a smile.

"Heh." Zabuza just said.

"Well now you have the chance to change. Why don't you help us?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi then pulled Naruto back behind the trees. "Naruto. What do you think you're doing? Don't forget. These guys are our enemies."

"Kakashi-sensei. I have the power to sense feelings. I know if he's planning on betraying us. He's genuinely changed. Also, I don't think that he was that wrong about the Mizukage. You-know-who might be behind it."

"What makes you think that?!" Kakashi asked.

"I know that Yagura isn't the Mizukage anymore. But I don't think Yagura was that bad on his own. He was the Jinchuriki of Isobu." Naruto said.

"Isobu? Who's that?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Oh. That's the name of the 3-tails." Kakashi still looked a little confused. "Oh. Kurama knows his name." said Naruto with a smile.

"Ah. I see." Kakashi replied. He then thought of Rin when Naruto mentioned the 3 tails.

"As I was saying, since Yagura was the 3-tails Jinchuriki, then it is very likely that he was being controlled. Remember... Uchiha and Senju powers can control the tailed beasts." Naruto said.

"That was a good deduction, Naruto. I'm really surprised with you." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Wh-what do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked uneasily.

"Well. It's just that ever since I became your sensei, you've been smart, collected, and helpful. That's completely opposite from the reports I received from the Academy." Kakashi replied.

"Hehehe. I guess Kurama's had an effect on me." Naruto said.

The fox began talking to Naruto in his mind. "**Hey Naruto. When do you think we should tell someone that you're from the future?**"

'I don't think that would be such a good idea. People will think that I'm crazy.' the blond thought.

"**I guess. But it's going to get hard to explain why you're so mature. Imagine what we'll have to say when you use your Rasengan for the first time.**"

'Eh. I'll worry about that when the time comes.'

"Anyways. I think we've kept Zabuza waiting long enough. Let's head back to them." Kakashi said.

"Yeah." Naruto replied.

Naruto and Kakashi walked back to the tied up Zabuza and Haku. They were sitting cross-legged and made themselves comfortable (despite being tied up).

"So... What are we going to do with the two of you?" Naruto asked.


	8. Chapter 8

"So... What are we going to do with the two of you?" Naruto asked.

"Calm yourself, kid. We won't try to kill the bridge builder anymore." Zabuza said.

"Oh... Good. Guess I don't need to use this anymore." Naruto said while releasing Kurama mode. "But since you guys are here, why not help us protect him. I mean, you guys can be pretty helpful."

"Don't get your hopes up too much. I just said that I wasn't going to kill your precious bridge builder. I didn't say anything about providing free labor for you all."

"But don't you want to get back at Gato for using you like a tool?" Naruto asked.

"...fine." Zabuza replied.

'Wow. When you get to know him, he's not that hard to fool.' Naruto thought happily. "Okay then. It's great that you guys are going to be helping us out and all, but we can't provide you any shelter. The bridge builder's daughter doesn't want anyone who tried to kill her father in the same house as him."

"Oh. That should be fine. We are used to living outside." Haku said. "But could you do us a favor and untie us?"

Kakashi walked over with a kunai and cut the ropes off them. "I never thought that I'd ever be teaming up with the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza." Kakashi said.

"This is still only temporary, Kakashi. Once we're done here, I'm leaving A.S.A.P." Zabuza replied.

"I figured as much." Kakashi said. "I'll try to talk to Tsunami about trying to let you guys stay with us. We are allies now. Anyways, see ya."

Kakashi left the three ninja alone in the woods. Haku took off his mask because he had no more use for it. Naruto took out their weapons from outside the house and returned them to Zabuza and Haku.

"Alright, I think it's best if I head out now." Zabuza said.

"Zabuza-san? What about helping them finish the bridge?" Haku replied.

"I'm going to help them in a different way. Don't follow me. You, too brat." he said to Naruto. "I have some unfinished business to take care of." He then walked a few paces before stopping. "Haku, I was wrong. You're not a tool. You're a human being. Now go live your life."

"But Zabuza-san, my life belongs to you." Haku said.

"No it doesn't. Your life belongs to you, alright? If you feel like you owe me then you'll do as I say. Don't follow me!" Zabuza ordered. He then turned to Naruto. "Kid, I should be thanking you. You've opened my eyes to the error of my ways. Sorry for everything. But, you won't have to worry about Gato or his thugs anymore. I promise you that." After finishing his last sentence, Zabuza disappeared in a gust of wind.

"Wow. He really isn't much for goodbyes." Naruto said.

Haku just grew a tear in his eye, but quickly wiped it and smiled. 'Thank you Zabuza-san, for everything. I hope we meet again.'

Haku and Naruto then returned towards the house.

_With Kakashi and Tsunami_

"NO NO NO! I don't care if they said they've changed! They could still kill my father! If he dies, then the hope of this country goes straight down the drain!" Tsunami yelled.

Kakashi sighed. "I know how you feel, truly. But your father lied to us about the dangers this mission entailed. The more help we get, the better the chances that this mission will be a success."

Tazuna then stood up and walked over to Kakashi. "How can you be so sure if they've 'changed'?" the bridge builder asked.

"Haha... Well... Let's just say I have a gut feeling." Kakashi said. The bridge builder was still displeased. "How about if you let us do this, I'll pay the cost of this mission."

"You got yourself a deal." the bridge builder said.

"Father!?" Tsunami yelled.

"He's a Jonin. If he really does believe that they're good, then I'll trust them. Hell, he put faith in these brats and they turned out to be more than helpful."

"...Fine." Tsunami said as she threw her hands up in submission.

All of a sudden, Naruto and Haku walked in the house. "Oy Kakashi. Just want to let you know that Zabuza left."

"Wh-wha? He just left?" Kakashi asked. Naruto just nodded.

"And you just let him leave, dobe?" Sasuke asked.

"Hey! If you wanted him to stay so bad, then why didn't you make him stay?!" Naruto stammered.

"I didn't! You were the one that had us carry him all the way here! But, you just let him leave after making us go through that?!" Sasuke replied.

"Okay okay. That's enough fighting. If you have that much energy, then you should be using it to train. Speaking of which, I think I'll give you 3 some training." Kakashi said.

"What kind of training?" Sakura asked the Jonin.

"Just follow me outside." Kakashi motioned to his Genin. He noticed that Haku was just standing there. "Oh. Uh. You can come, too. Uh... What was your name again?"

"Haku," Haku replied.

"Alright, Haku. Yeah. Well come on." Kakashi motioned.

All of the shinobi went outside to the trees. All of them except Naruto seemed confused about what they were had to do.

"Alright team, I think it's time you learn to control your chakra." Kakashi said.

"Why do we need to when we can already use jutsu?" Sasuke asked.

"It's because you aren't properly using your jutsu. With an incorrect amount of chakra, a jutsu's power can be greatly diminished or not even work at all. The point of this exercise is to learn to use an efficient amount of chakra. It'll also help you with your stamina. Trust me, once you master it, you'll know a huge difference." Kakashi said.

Sakura looked a little confused. "But how are we supposed to do that?"

"By climbing a tree," Kakashi said.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Oh. Did I mention that you can't use your hands?" Kakashi said.

"Wh-what? How are we supposed to do that?" Sakura asked.

"Allow me to demonstrate." Kakashi formed a quick hand seal and began walking towards the tree. When his foot hit the bark, it stuck. He kept on walking upwards until reaching a branch. He continued talking to them upside down. "In order to climb a tree, you must focus an exact amount at the bottom of your feet. If you use too little chakra, you won't stick, but if you use too much, then you'll repel off the surface. It is said that it is hardest to focus chakra at the feet. So theoretically, if you can master this technique, you can master any jutsu... Here. Use these." Kakashi said as he threw 3 kunai at their feet. "Use this to mark how far you get up."

Sakura and Sasuke both grabbed a kunai and focused their chakra to their feet. They then began running towards a tree and tried to run up. Sakura made it up with ease, while Sasuke made it up a few steps before getting repelled. 'Tch... It's harder than I thought. If I apply too little chakra, I won't stick. But apply too much, and I'll break the surface and shoot off the tree.'

Kakashi smirked at Sakura's expertise at this exercise. "Heh, the Uchiha clan doesn't look so great now."

Sasuke just got annoyed at his comment. Sakura scolded Kakashi for making fun of Sasuke. Haku was enjoying this scene between the sensei and the students.

But Naruto hadn't touched his kunai.

"Hey Naruto, why don't you try the exercise?" Kakashi said.

"Nah, I'm good, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto replied.

"You should really do it."

"Thanks, but no thanks Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said.

"Naruto, do the exercise."

"No!" Naruto yelled and began taking steps back.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled as he began running after him.

They then began a game of cat and mouse. Naruto kept running away from Kakashi. Kakashi was intent on catching Naruto. Naruto ran out onto the water but Kakashi didn't even notice. Naruto then jumped up and tried to hide in the trees. Kakashi caught him pretty quickly. But, realizing that they were both sticking to the tree, he let out a little chuckle.

"Hehe. Uh... Well good job Naruto." Kakashi said under his breath.

Sasuke just got even angrier. You could see the tick marks on his head forming. 'What the hell! Since when was I the weakest in the group?! Have I been slacking off?! Damn it! I need to get stronger!' Sasuke thought in his head. He continued training with Sakura cheering him on.

After Naruto finished his little fiasco with Kakashi, he walked over to Haku. "Hey Haku." Naruto said in a cheerful voice.

"Hello. Your name is Naruto, right?" Haku asked.

"You better believe it!" Naruto replied. "So watcha doin?" Naruto asked.

"Oh nothing, just thinking. I don't know what I'm going to do after this mission is over. I usually just followed Zabuza's orders. Now that he's gone, I don't know where I'll go."

"Oh. Well you don't have to worry about that. You can come with us to Konoha. I'm sure the Hokage will be willing to admit you in as a shinobi. He's not as bad as Yagura was." Naruto said with a wink.

"I see. Well thanks for the proposition. I'll gladly take you up on your offer." Haku replied.

"No sweat." Naruto said.

_With Zabuza_

Zabuza had made it back to Gato's base. He stood outside as he saw Gato and his bodyguards enter the odd building. He knew he had what he had to do. All of a sudden, he summoned an immense amount of chakra. He then summoned a few water clones and surrounded the structure. All of the clones went through a series of hand signs and then yelled out, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" All of a sudden, the base was attacked by several water dragons. The base was thrown into some sort of torrential tsunami. Many ninja died within that building. The building looked destroyed. There was debris everywhere. Yet, in that debris, there was a short man clinging onto a wooden board. He wore glasses and an expensive suit. Unfortunately for him, his guards were all dead.

Zabuza walked on the water and slowly made his way to Gato. "Hey there 'boss'." Zabuza said with a smirk.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing?! You're not supposed to be attacking me! You're supposed to be killing that damn bridge builder!" Gato yelled.

"There's been a slight change in plans." Zabuza said while lifting his sword.

"N-n-no! P-p-please! D-don't do it! I-I can pay you a very handsome price! Y-you'll be a very rich man! Just please don't do it!" Gato pleaded with a pale face as he eyed the Executioner's Blade.

"Heh. You're a smart man, exchanging money for your life. I'll gladly take your money." Zabuza said.

"G-good. It's in the vault under this debris." Gato said with a sigh of relief.

"Great. But Gato." Zabuza said. Gato tensed at the sound of his name. "You made one big mistake. I'm not a man... I'm a demon." Zabuza said as he lifted his huge sword.

"N-n-noooo! W-we had a de-" Gato's last few words were cut off, along with his head.

"Heh, be grateful that your blood will be a part of my Executioner's Blade," Zabuza said to the dead Gato. Zabuza then went through the debris to find the vault and take his money.

_With Team 7_

Sasuke had mastered the tree climbing exercise. It had taken him a few hours (since he was driven harder by the fact that he had become "dead-last").

Haku was talking to Sakura about medicinal herbs and which ones worked best. He also cleared up the fact that he was a boy to her (Sakura didn't think boys knew anything about medicine).

Naruto got his chance to talk to Inari and tell him that one should only cry when one's happy.

And, Tazuna was able to complete the bridge without any more problems. He had no idea why Gato hadn't sent anyone to attack him, but he was grateful. The bridge had finished a lot sooner than expected thanks to Naruto's shadow clones. Dozens of clones really make the difference. After Tazuna finished his bridge, Team 7 decided that it was time to head back to Konoha. Everyone was grateful to the shinobi for helping them complete their bridge and they were giving them farewells.

"Bye Naruto! Visit soon!" Inari said as he waved goodbye.

"Yeah! Don't worry! I will! And remember what I said about crying!" Naruto yelled at him.

"Uh huh! I won't forget!" Inari said as tears began forming in the corner of his eye.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Haku, and Kakashi then continued walking.

"Hey Tazuna, now that we've finished the bridge, what will we call it?" a worker asked.

"Heh. I have an idea." Tazuna thought as he looked at Naruto's back. "Why don't we call it the 'Great Naruto Bridge'?" Everyone loved the idea.


	9. Chapter 9

Naruto walked with his team back to the village. During the trip back, it was complete silence. Well, Kakashi was busy chuckling while he read his little book. Sasuke was trying to ignore all of Sakura's annoying questions but answered some. Haku was wondering what Konoha was like. Ironically, Naruto was actually the only silent one.

After a few hours, Team 7 and Haku arrived back at Konoha. Kakashi had to explain to the guards that Haku was with them. The guards were pretty skeptical, considering that Haku had a headband of the Hidden Mist Village, but they gave Haku clearance. They all then walked for a bit, until Kakashi told Sakura and Sasuke to head home for the day. They'd receive their pay tomorrow. Kakashi told Haku and Naruto to follow them to the Hokage's mansion.

'Uh-oh.' Naruto thought. 'Why does he want me to go too?'

"**Beats me. It might have to do with the fact that you're stronger than he ever predicted and you took out a Jonin on your own.**" Kurama said.

'But I used the Hiraishin no Jutsu. That should make it easy to take down lots of ninja!' Naruto argued.

"**Then maybe it's the fact that you used my chakra. I don't have all the answers!**" Kurama yelled.

'Sheesh, I'll find out on my own then.' Naruto thought.

Haku was busy staring at the big building they were entering. 'Hmmm, so this is where the Hokage lives. I wonder what kind of person he is. Naruto did say that he was nice. I hope I don't cause any trouble for them.' he thought.

They finally reached the Third Hokage's office. Kakashi knocked on the door and Hokage-sama let them in.

"Well hello, Kakashi. How did the mission go?" the Hokage asked while wondering why there was a Mist ninja with them.

Kakashi then explained all the details of the mission. He included Zabuza and said how Haku had no place to go.

"I see. It's disappointing that Tazuna had to lie to us. We could've made a negotiation to help him. But, it seems like everything worked out in the end. So, Haku, you are welcome to stay here in Konoha. I'd be willing to help you find a place to stay and pay your first month's rent. You can be an honorary Leaf ninja, but you'll have to start off as a Genin," the old Hokage said.

"Th-Thank you Hokage-sama. I accept!" Haku replied, a little surprised by his generosity.

"Okay, Haku. You can wait outside for now. I just need to finish up with Hokage-sama." Kakashi said. Haku nodded and walked outside.

"So… Why did you want me here?" Naruto asked unsurely.

"Well. During the mission, you showed exceptional skills, skills that probably exceed my own. Actually, your skills were a lot different from the reports I've received from the Academy. There's something wrong when there's this big of a change in your abilities in this short amount of time. And Naruto, I think you know something that we don't." Kakashi said seriously.

Naruto sighed. Kakashi wasn't called a genius for nothing. Naruto decided that he'd need a little help in telling his story to Kakashi and the Third. He summoned a clone and had the clone's consciousness turn over to Kurama's consciousness.

"**Yo, I think I can help explain things.**" Kurama told Kakashi and the Hokage. "**Well. You see, about 8 years from now, this kid's going to do something so stupid.**" Kakashi and the Third just gave him a confused look. "**Oh yeah… I forgot to mention that we are from the future.**"

Kakashi and the Third Hokage immediately fell over. "Wh-what?!" they both yelled.

"Hehehe… Yeah. I um accidentally opened one of the scrolls that resided in the Hokage's archives and I think I sent myself back in time 10 years." Naruto said uneasily. Kakashi and the Third were still wondering if they should send Naruto to a mental institution.

"**Hey! You guys are lucky you only need to hear this. I'm the one that has to deal with this idiot's mistake!**" Kurama yelled.

"Hey! It was an honest mistake! How was I supposed to know that my dad's scroll would take me back 10 years into the past, huh?!" Naruto yelled.

"**What ever happened to learning about 'looking underneath the underneath' or whatever you ninja spout? And you call yourself a ninja!**" Kurama argued.

The Third's eyes opened up. He did recall that Minato worked on a scroll to go back in time, but he was told that it could only take him back a few minutes back.

"Naruto. How did that scroll send you back 10 years when it could only send your father back a few minutes? I know that you can access Kurama's chakra source, but that shouldn't make a difference that great." the Third said.

"**I think it might've been had something to do with him having some power of the Sage of Six Paths.**" Kurama said.

The Third Hokage and Kakashi both fell to the floor again. This story seemed to sound less and less true by the second.

"Listen. I know it's a lot to take in, but that's why I didn't say anything. I have a lot of stories that are hard to believe." Naruto said. "I guess the only proof I have is that I know about Obito becoming evil. Yeah, being from the future has some perks." Naruto said with a big grin.

Kakashi sighed. Even though the idea was really far-fetched, it would explain a lot that's happened. "Naruto, you really know how to surprise someone, don't you." Kakashi said.

Naruto just smiled. Kurama smirked.

"Well thanks for the explanation." the Third said. "You may go now. Oh, and can you give this money to Haku?" the Third asked as he pulled out some money.

"Sure." Naruto replied. As he was leaving, Kurama disappeared. Naruto went out and gave Haku some money.

"Thanks, Naruto." Haku said cheerfully.

Naruto replied, "No problem, Haku."

Naruto then went and left the establishment. It was a little after 3 p.m. and he didn't have any plans. 'Hmmm, how about I train?' Naruto thought.

He decided to head over to training ground 7, but to his surprise, found Sasuke there. He was practicing his shuriken technique. He had made a perfect line of shuriken on all three stumps of wood.

Naruto walked up to him and said, "Yo. Mind if I train here, too?"

Sasuke then turned his eyes to Naruto. His eyes had a little anger in them. After a moment of silence, Sasuke finally said, "Fight me."

Naruto was a little thrown off by this. In the past, he was usually the one challenging Sasuke, but he guessed that after the Wave mission, Sasuke wanted to fight him. "Alright, "Naruto responded.

They both got themselves in a fighting stance and got ready for their fight. Sasuke charged at Naruto quickly. He threw a few punches towards his face, but Naruto dodged them easily. Sasuke then aimed a kick at Naruto's stomach, but Naruto grabbed his leg and threw him towards the trees. Sasuke flew towards the tree, but landed on the bark on his feet. He then squatted and pushed himself towards Naruto. Naruto jumped back a few steps to avoid Sasuke's attack. Sasuke just kept attacking. He kept throwing punches at Naruto. Naruto just kept moving back. Sasuke threw another punch at Naruto, but Naruto jumped up. Unfortunately for Sasuke, his punch ended up hitting the wooden stump. He cringed at the pain.

"Hehe, you're not going to hit me with attacks like those." Naruto said to him.

This only made Sasuke angrier. There was no way that he'd let Naruto get the best of him. Soon, his eyes became red and commas appeared encircling the pupil. On his left eye, there was only 1 comma, but on his right eye, there were 2 commas. Sasuke then began attacking Naruto with more punches and Naruto had to actually block most of them instead of dodge. Sasuke managed to grab ahold of Naruto's clothing, and he threw Naruto down to the ground. Naruto made a yelp of pain, but Naruto then turned into a log and he appeared a few feet away from Sasuke.

"Heh. You'll have to do better than that, Sasuke-chan." Naruto teased.

"Arghhh!" Sasuke yelled. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Sasuke then shot many small fireballs at Naruto. However, Naruto dodged them easily.

Naruto then threw a smoke bomb down on the ground and covered the area surrounding him with smoke. Then, a few shuriken were thrown at Sasuke, but Sasuke deflected them with a kunai.

"Ha! Is that all you got?!" Sasuke yelled at him.

But the shuriken then turned into clones and struck Sasuke from behind. They then pinned Sasuke down to the ground.

"I win, Sasuke." Naruto said with a big grin.

Sasuke just kept staring at the ground, dumbfounded. The academy's dead-last had actually beaten him. Not just beat him, but with ease. The clones disappeared and Sasuke sat up. He felt so ashamed of himself.

"Hey. Don't get so down on yourself." Naruto said. "At least you have your Sharingan now."

Sasuke didn't even realize that his Sharingan was active. He was a little proud of himself that he could finally activate his Sharingan, but he still couldn't stand being worse than Naruto.

"How are you so strong?!" Sasuke asked.

"Because I have a rival like you," Naruto said with a big grin.

"I don't have simple ideals as getting stronger than a rival! I need to get stronger! That's the only way to get my revenge!" Sasuke yelled.

"Why do you want revenge?" Naruto asked.

"Someone like you wouldn't understand," Sasuke said.

"I would probably understand more than you think. I'm not as dumb as I look," Naruto said with a smile.

Sasuke was getting a little annoyed at Naruto's smiles.

"**What are you trying to do, kit?**" Kurama asked Naruto.

'I don't want him to hate Itachi and have his childhood consumed by revenge. I want him to change earlier. It's what Itachi wanted,' Naruto thought.

"**Are you sure that's a good idea?**" Kurama asked, a little doubtful of his host's tactics.

Naruto thought for a moment. 'I think if he knows, he'll be better off. Hell, he may not even go off to Orochimaru.'

Sasuke then spoke up. "My brother… he decided to kill my entire clan, just to test his abilities. I lost everything. Now, I need to kill him to avenge my clan! Understand now, dobe?"

"Sasuke, someone like you should know that this story doesn't make much sense. I don't think that your brother did that to test his abilities." Naruto said.

"I was there! I heard him!" Sasuke argued.

"Then why would he let you live? Huh? He wanted to test his abilities, right? Then why leave 1 measly Uchiha alive?" Naruto asked.

"He wants me to get stronger so that I can be a challenge to him." Sasuke said.

"Then why did he kill all the other children? Why only let you live? Is it a test to his abilities to kill every child of the Uchiha clan but you?" Naruto argued.

Naruto was making some sense. Why was he left alive? When Sasuke was younger, he couldn't believe that his sweet brother would do something like that.

"But, my brother lied to me! He said that he'd pretended to be a good big brother!" Sasuke yelled, anger boiling.

"You said that your brother was a liar. How do you know if he wasn't just making up a lie to make you hate him? If that's true, then the only explanation was that he loved you. That's the only reason why he couldn't kill you. He couldn't do it because he loved you too much." Naruto said. "I highly doubt that a ninja of his caliber would test his abilities on the Uchiha. Maybe kill the elite, but why the kill young children? Has your anger really blinded you so much?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke then broke down. His eyes filled with tears. Was he wrong? He then remembered the night of the attack. It was when Itachi was leaving the village. Sasuke had chased him a little and had awakened the Sharingan then. Both of his eyes had a comma in each. Sasuke threw a kunai at Itachi and his headband fell to the ground. Itachi put his headband back on and looked at Sasuke one last time. Only this time, he was crying. Sasuke had thought that he imagined Itachi crying, but now it seems like it made sense. He punched the ground. He was ashamed of himself for being fooled by his brother. One thing was for sure, he'd have to confront Itachi and find the truth. He needed to know why his brother did what he did. He knew now that it wasn't for that selfish reason and that Itachi probably knew something he didn't. Sasuke felt a little reborn, like his burden of hatred had subsided a little. When Sasuke looked up at Naruto, his eyes were Sharingans, but both eyes had 3 commas in them.

'Heh. To think the dobe would be the one to open my eyes.' Sasuke thought. "Let's go into town. I'll buy you that bowl of ramen I owe you." Sasuke said.

Naruto looked back at Sasuke and smiled. "If you say so." Naruto said with a smile. "But I'm feeling extra hungry today." Sasuke twitched at Naruto's last words.

_At Ichiraku's Ramen_

Naruto was finishing his 4th bowl of ramen. Sasuke sighed at his wallet. He never really spent anything for his pleasure, but it still saddened him as his wallet got smaller. This was worse than a date.

"Yum. That was delicious. Thanks Sasuke!" Naruto said.

"This is the last time I treat you to ramen…" Sasuke said.

All of a sudden, there was a poof sound from behind them. Then, Kakashi came into the restaurant and gave a little funny look at the two ninja. "Um… Is this a date?" he asked.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at him with anger. "No! I can do sooooo much better than him!" they both yelled aloud.

"Heheh, relax guys. I was just joking. Actually, Naruto, I was hoping I could talk to you." Kakashi said.

Naruto walked outside to Kakashi and asked what was up.

"Well, you see, there aren't many places around that offered good 1-bedroom apartments so I was wondering if you'd live with Haku into a bigger place?" Kakashi asked.

"Ehh?! Why do I have to do it and not Sasuke?!" Naruto asked pointing at Sasuke's back.

"Well, Naruto. I thought you were going to be the mature one, especially since you're supposed to be in your twenties." Kakashi said with his eye in a U shape.

"Tch… Fine." Naruto said while cursing Kakashi's name.

"Good." Kakashi said with a smile under his mask. He then handed Naruto a little slip of paper. "This will be your new address and you should start moving your stuff there immediately."

Kakashi then walked away and Naruto went to his place to get his belongings.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was coming out of Ichiraku's with a smaller wallet. He sighed. He then headed off in the direction of his home. On the way back, he bumped into Sakura.

"Oh. Hi Sasuke!" Sakura yelled aloud.

Sasuke sighed. He didn't want to deal with fan girls today. Today just wasn't his day. "Hello, Sakura." he said in a low voice.

"So... I know this is sudden, but would you want to go on a date with me sometime?" she asked with a little blush.

A little tick formed in the corner of his head. But he remembered that being angry wasn't always the answer. So he said in a calm voice, "Listen, Sakura. I'm not into girls-"

"You're gay?! Oh no! My worst fears have been realized!" she screamed as she interrupted him.

"I'M NOT GAY!" Sasuke yelled. But he yelled a bit too loud and some of the villagers were giving him a weird look. "You didn't let me finish. I'm not into girls that are just trying to get my approval. I only like strong kunoichi. Not girls that think I like them for long hair. I actually find girls like that rather annoying."

"Oh… I'm sorry." she said to her crush. She just realized that she spent a lot of her academy days just trying to win over his approval. Had she thought too much about love instead of being a better ninja? "Thanks for the insight." Sakura said with a small smile.

"No problem. Anyways, see you later." he said before walking off.

Sakura then went home. She went inside her bathroom and took a good look at herself. All she saw was a child that put Sasuke as her priority. Inner Sakura thought, 'Sasuke's right. My life shouldn't revolve around him.' Sakura then took out a kunai and decided to cut her hair short, the way she liked it.


	10. Chapter 10

_With Naruto_

Naruto was still a little annoyed that he had to move all of his stuff to a new place and stay with Haku, but he thought that it was his fault because he changed history. He then summoned a dozen clones and moved his things to the new address in 1 go.

He finally got to the new place and the door was open. He took a look inside and saw how much space there was. There were 2 bedrooms, 1 guest room, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a dining room. Naruto went inside to see Haku in normal clothes with his hair down. He'd been arranging the furniture for a while now.

"Hey, Haku." Naruto said aloud.

Haku looked up and saw all the Naruto clones. "Oh hey there, Naruto, I'm just moving some furniture. Uh, you can choose which room you want." Haku said with a smile.

"Cool." Naruto said with a smile.

It took about an hour to get everything settled, but they were finally done. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the front door.

"It's open." Naruto said.

Then, Hinata came through the door. "H-hello N-Naruto, I h-heard that you m-moved h-here. I brought y-you th-this." she said while presenting a plant. Apparently, Kakashi had told Kurenai and Asuma that Naruto was moving today.

"Oh, thanks! That'll go great by the window!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

Then, Haku came out from the bathroom. "Oh. Hello. I didn't know that we had company, Naruto." Haku said while noticing Hinata.

Hinata looked at Haku, then at Naruto. Then she looked at Haku again, and then looked at Naruto. Her face then got really red, but not out shyness. It was out of anger.

Naruto turned when he felt killer intent. He saw Hinata boiling with anger. This was a part of her that he'd never seen. "Wh-what's wrong, H-Hinata?" he said while stuttering.

Hinata couldn't utter any words. Her face was so red that you could see steam coming out of her ears. She just pointed at the two of them being together and obviously made it look like Haku and Naruto were dating.

Haku chuckled a little at the misled Hinata and had a feeling he knew what was causing the misunderstanding. "Um, Hinata?" Haku said getting her attention. Hinata then aimed her killer intent at Haku and Haku dropped a little sweat. "You should know that I'm a boy."

Hinata's face then dropped. Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes. This seemed to be worse than finding out that he was cheating on her.

"H-Hinata?! Why are you crying?!" Naruto asked hysterically.

Hinata just cried and pointed at Haku and then at Naruto. Naruto couldn't make out what she was saying. But he soon put two and two together. Apparently Haku only helped make an even bigger misunderstanding between them.

"Hinata, I'm not gay! Kakashi-sensei just asked me if I could move in with Haku so that it would be easier to pay for rent." Naruto said.

Hinata heard what he said and then got extremely embarrassed. She made a huge scene in front of Naruto over a huge misunderstanding. Her face got a little red and she fainted.

Naruto sighed as he picked up the unconscious girl and laid her on the sofa.

Haku looked at him, a little confused. "I'm guessing she's one of your important people?" Haku asked.

Naruto nodded. "You can say something like that. She's my girlfriend."

"Ah. She seems nice, Naruto." Haku said with a smile.

Naruto then smiled at the unconscious Hyuga girl. "Yeah, she really is." he said.

A few hours passed and Hinata woke up. Haku had gone out to look for anything else that the apartment needed. Hinata sat up to Naruto playing cards with some clones that he made. One clone motioned over to how Hinata was awake so Naruto dispelled the Jutsu.

"So, you're finally awake." Naruto said with a big grin.

Hinata was trying to remember what had happened prior to her fainting. "Y-yeah." she said. "I'm s-sorry that I g-got mad at y-you."

Naruto then got a little idea. "Yeah, that was really something. You hurt my feelings, Hinata. I don't know what you can do to make it up." he said. He then turned to her and she looked a little upset at herself. "I think I know what you can do. Why don't you apologize?" Naruto suggested. Hinata quickly apologized but Naruto just wagged his finger at her. "No. I want us to do it together." he said as he made a kissy face.

Hinata immediately understood what he meant and blushed a bit. She then went closer to his face and met her lips with his. They both mouthed "I'm sorry," while their lips met. Afterwards, Hinata's face got redder and Naruto chuckled.

"Y-yeah, that'll do." Naruto said with a little blush.

Hinata giggled a little at Naruto. "But I w-want to m-make s-sure you know I'm s-sorry." Hinata said in a nice voice. Naruto blushed a little more from that.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" Kakashi said in a cool voice.

Hinata eeped at him and fainted again on the sofa.

"Aw man! You have the worst timing, Kakashi! She had just woken up, too!" Naruto yelled at him.

"Hehe, sorry Naruto. I just wanted to see how things were going since you guys were moving in here today." Kakashi said with a hand behind his head.

Naruto was still a little pissed at his sensei but he cooled down. "Well, we are just about done here. I kind of like this place. It's a lot roomier than my last apartment." Naruto said with a grin.

"Ah. That's good. I also wanted to let you know that we were going to have dinner tonight with Team 8 and Team 10. Make sure to tell Haku." Kakashi said.

"Wait, why am I telling Haku?" Naruto asked.

"Oh. I forgot to mention that Hokage-sama made Haku a part of Team 7." Kakashi said innocently.

"What?! What happened to a 4 man cell being crucial for stealth and stuff? We are the only team that has 1 extra member!" Naruto yelled.

"Yeah, but it makes for better teamwork. And are you really that much against Haku being on the same team as you?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto thought for a minute. "I guess not. It's just I thought he'd go with another squad. I mean, what's going to happen when we apply for the Chunin Exams?"

Kakashi looked up and remembered that Naruto should already know of the upcoming Chunin Exams (especially since he was from the future). "Well, a team with that many members will have its advantages and disadvantages." Kakashi said.

"I guess it won't hurt." Naruto said with a sigh.

"Okay. Glad to hear it. Anyways, tell Haku and Hinata that you all should be at the barbeque restaurant at around 7." With his last few words, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto sighed while looking around his new place. Naruto noticed that Hinata was starting to wake up. When her eyes opened, she sat up. She tried remembering what had happened last, and then her face became as red as a tomato.

"So you're finally up." Naruto said with a smile.

Hinata was really embarrassed that she had fainted again. "I-I'm s-sorry."

"It's alright. It's not like this is news." Naruto said while laughing.

Hinata looked at him a little upset. "It's n-not funny, N-Naruto!" she stammered.

Naruto gave a little smile at her. "Aww. You're not mad, are you?" Naruto teased.

Hinata then turned her back to him and smiled a little. She knew she couldn't hide her happiness of being with Naruto, but tried her best to fake being angry.

Naruto smiled. "I think I know what'll cheer you up." he teased.

Hinata got a little blush at his comment. She eagerly waited for what he had in store for her. Naruto told her to turn around and close her eyes. She thought about peeking with the Byakugan, but she didn't want to ruin the surprised. So she turned around, closed her eyes, and puckered her lips. Naruto told her to open her eyes and she opened them to Naruto's hands holding some flowers. He had suggested pressing flowers. Hinata immediately fell over at what he suggested. Naruto laughed at her reaction. He had a feeling it wasn't what she expected.

Once she got up, he told her about the dinner they were all having. She said okay and left to get ready.

Now Naruto was bored. He would have to wait for Haku to get back before leaving, but he had nothing to do. Cable wasn't installed yet, he was too lazy to play cards, and they already unloaded everything. Naruto decided to just meditate upside down. He stood up. Went on the ceiling, and sat upside down, meditating.

_At 6:30_

Haku had returned to the apartment. He had bought some groceries for the apartment, but accidentally dropped them on the ground when he saw Naruto on the ceiling.

"Sup, Haku?" Naruto asked, still on the ceiling.

"Uh… Hi Naruto. What are you doing on upside down?" the boy asked.

"Oh. I was just meditating to kill time. I had to tell you that we are going out to dinner tonight at 7." Naruto said.

Haku gave Naruto a surprised look. He then calmly said, "Naruto… I'm sorry, but I don't like you that way."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! I'M TELLING YOU THAT WE ARE HAVING DINNER WITH OUR TEAM AND TEAMS 8 AND 10!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh. Why didn't you just say so?" Haku asked. Naruto just gave him an angry look.

"Look. Let's just go. If we're late, then Choji will eat all of the food." Naruto said with a sigh.

Haku didn't know what Naruto was talking about but they left all the same.

_At the Barbeque Restaurant_

Everyone on Asuma's team was there. No one else was there though. Ino was yelling at Shikamaru, Choji was eating chips, and Shikamaru was not paying any attention.

"Hey! You guys made it!" Ino waved to Naruto and Haku. But then her face dropped. 'How did Naruto get a girl like that? And is he cheating on Hinata?! I'm going to hurt him for this.'

Ino made a swift punch for Naruto's head but Naruto sensed her coming and dodged quickly, leading Ino to punch a pole.

"Ow!" Ino said as she rubbed her hand. "What was that for?!"

"I should be asking you that! You're the one that tried to punch my face!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Well why did you dump Hinata?!" Ino asked still recovering.

Naruto had no idea what Ino was talking about until he remembered that Haku was standing right next to him. "Oh my god! I'm only going to say this once! This is Haku! I'm not dating Haku! Haku is a boy!" Naruto yelled which made Shikamaru cover his ears.

Ino got embarrassed after hearing Naruto's explanation (more so about how she though Haku was a girl). Shikamaru just uncovered his ears and said, "Geez Naruto, no need to scream."

Choji was just busy eating his chips while they had their conversation. Sasuke had arrived and Ino pounced on him.

"Oh Sasuke~. Did you miss me?" Ino said while on top of him. Sasuke was getting tick marks at the corner of his head.

Naruto just casually walked behind Ino, and swiftly hit her neck, knocking her out. "Whoops." Naruto said smiling.

Sasuke got Ino off of him and went up to Naruto. "….thanks."

"No problem." Naruto said with a smile while Haku was moving Ino to the side.

Kiba and Shino arrived next. Kiba was busy talking to Akamaru while Shino walked in silence.

"Hey guys!" Kiba yelled aloud.

"Kiba, do you mind lowering your volume? Others don't appreciate it when their eardrums are ringing with your voice. Why? Because everyone is used to hearing words spoken at a normal volume." Shino said in a low voice.

Everyone dropped a sweat at Shino's comment. He could've said to just be quiet.

Sakura and Hinata arrived after them. Almost everyone was surprised my Sakura's short hair. Well, only Kiba and Haku were surprised. Naruto expected it to be cut off in the future. Sasuke and Shino didn't care. Shikamaru wasn't paying attention. Ino was knocked out. And, Choji was busy eating chips.

"Sakura, what did you do with your hair?" Haku asked.

"Ah. Well, I just thought that it was better short. It got in the way too much, but it's easier to manage now." Sakura said with a smile. She then looked at the unconscious Ino and asked, "So why is Ino on the ground?"

"It's a long story." Haku said with a small smile.

"H-hello Naruto." Hinata told her boyfriend.

"Hey Hinata-hime." Naruto said in a cool tone. Hinata blushed at the comment.

_A Half Hour Later_

All of the Jonin leaders arrived at the restaurant.

"Damn, Kakashi-sensei! Your tardiness is contagious!" Naruto yelled as he pointed towards all the Jonin.

"Hehe, sorry guys but I had to finish something up." Kakashi said as he thought back to his challenge with Guy.

"Anyways. Let's all head on in." Kurenai said with a smile.

"Alright!" Naruto, Choji, and Kiba said together.

Asuma just sighed as he picked up Ino's unconscious body. He didn't even question why she was knocked out, but guessed it had to do with her big crush on Sasuke.

They all went inside and the 9 Genin sat at one big table, while the 3 Jonin sat at a small table near them. Ino (who was starting to wake up), Choji, and Shikamaru sat together. Sasuke sat in between Kiba and Shino. Sakura sat between Shino and Ino. Haku sat next to Naruto. Haku and Kiba were sitting at the end of the benches. And, Naruto and Hinata, of course, sat together.

They all began having their little conversations.

_Ino and Sakura_

"Hey billboard brow, what happened to your long hair? Did you finally realize that Sasuke was mine and you just cut it out of anger?" Ino said with a smirk.

"Uh, no. Actually Ino-pig, I liked keeping my hair short. But you can try to win over Sasuke as much as you want. Good luck!" Sakura said with a smile.

Ino was surprised by her rivals comment. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Ino yelled, but Sakura just ignored her as she began grabbing some food.

_Shikamaru and Choji_

"Choji, you shouldn't try and eat all the food." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"But, Shikamaru, if I don't then there won't be any left." Choji said.

"At least let the meat cook first." Shikamaru said. "And Asuma's paying, so you don't need to worry about there being no more beef."

"Hehe… You're right." Choji said with some food in his mouth. Asuma just cringed at the mention of his name.

_Kiba, Sasuke, and Shino_

"Hey dog-boy, you stink." Sasuke said. "You mind keeping your distance?"

"Shut it, Uchiha!" Kiba yelled. "My sense of smell is better than yours so I can smell the sweat on your body. Why don't you keep your distance from me?!"

"Kiba, the answer to your question is obvious. One, your stench is more offensive to everyone else. Two, you're sitting at the end so only you can move over. And three, most people, which refers to people outside of the Inuzuka clan, don't have the strong sense of smell that the Inuzuka clan has so you're just asking for everyone else to conform to you, which is a lot harder than just having you conform to us." Shino pointed out to the Inuzuka.

"Hey! Whose side are you on, Shino?! And why the hell can't you talk normally?!" Kiba yelled.

"I'm not on anyone's side. I was just pointing out the obvious. And to answer your question on my form of speech, I speak this way to point out the facts that you seem to be missing because those facts don't seem to be apparent to you, since you are making an argument," Shino said in a low voice.

'God, one reeks and one over explains. I'm actually glad that I ended up with Naruto and Sakura,' Sasuke thought in his head. He then began grabbing some food.

_Naruto, Hinata, and Haku_

"Here, Hinata!" Naruto said as he began feeding her some beef. It was his idea. Hinata just got a little embarrassed by it but took a bite.

Then she took some meat and tried putting it in his mouth. "H-h-here you go, N-Naruto." she said softly.

Naruto put half the meat in his mouth but left the other half out of his mouth. He looked over to Hinata and gave her a look that said 'I want to share this meat.' Hinata got a lot redder but nodded. She got closer to him to try and grab the meat with her mouth, but Choji had reached over and grabbed the meat in Naruto's mouth with his chopsticks.

"Well if you're not going to eat it, don't take it." Choji said to Naruto.

"Ch-Choji! I was eating that!" Naruto yelled.

Hinata giggled a little at the scene and Haku observed intently. 'So this is what it's like to eat with others. It's been a while since I've eaten with others.' Haku thought as his mind drifted to being with his parents.

_Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai_

"So wait, you mean to tell me that Naruto came from the future?" Kurenai asked intently.

"Yeah, it's a lot to swallow, but it's true." Kakashi said.

"Well what are you guys doing with that scroll?" Asuma asked.

"Oh. Your father had that scroll sealed up securely. We don't want this sort of thing happening over and over again." Kakashi replied.

"Wait. If a scroll like that exists, why don't we just use it to take us back to solve a lot of problems that happened in history?" Kurenai asked.

"Well you see, Naruto was the only one to make it go back so far, and he thinks the reason was because he had the power of the Sage of Six Paths." Kakashi said. Kurenai and Asuma both felt a little off with hearing that this fairytale was actually true. "So only he would have the power to change history. But the scroll doesn't make you go back in time, but rather go back to yourself in the past. It's like a teleportation ninjutsu that uses a previous version of you as the destination. So if you didn't exist in that part of history, you wouldn't exist. That's why Naruto is in his young body. In addition, we don't know the effects that'll take place if we change anything. It really is a troublesome scroll." Kakashi said.

"Makes sense to me," Asuma said. "I mean, even if we go back in time, if we go back too far, we may be in a part of history when the scroll didn't exist. Hell, who knew that the fourth had a scroll as powerful as that."

"Well we shouldn't worry about it. Anyways, let's eat." Kakashi said with a smile under his mask. Asuma and Kurenai got excited because they thought that they'd get to see what was under Kakashi's mask, but Kakashi just quickly ate with his back turned to them. They just sighed.

When it was time to go, everyone said their farewells. Everyone went off in their teams. Then, they all went home. Naruto and Haku went to their new apartment.

Naruto started the conversation on their way back. "So, Haku, how did you like dinner?"

"It was alright. I liked watching you all." Haku said happily.

"Hehe," Naruto said uneasily. "Well it's good that you had fun."

"Yes. And I believe you were enjoying yourself, too." Haku said.

"Yeah, I had lots of fun. But it's going to be boring tomorrow." Naruto said with a sigh.

"Why's that?" Haku asked.

"Well, we are still a team of Genin. So we are going to still have to do simple D-rank missions."

"Hmmm, well I've never been on any D-rank missions, so it should be a nice change of pace." Haku said with a smile.

They finally got to the apartment. They were both tired from today. They both said goodnight to each other and went to their respective rooms. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	11. Chapter 11

_The Next Day_

Naruto woke up with a yawn. It was early, a little before 7 a.m. Naruto scratched the back of his head as he began getting out of bed. He went to his bathroom and relieved himself. Then he went to the kitchen to hear someone was in the shower in the other bathroom.

'Hmm. It must be Haku. I'll just make us some breakfast.' Naruto thought as he started making some rice and preparing some miso soup. He then went into the refrigerator and got some vegetables and some meat. When Haku got out of the bathroom, the food was already done. Naruto set the table for him and Haku.

Haku came into the room to see that Naruto had made breakfast. "Good morning, Naruto." he said happily.

"Morning Haku," Naruto said as he began eating breakfast.

Haku sat down and began having some breakfast. "Wow. The food's delicious." Haku said. "Hinata's really lucky to have you."

"Heh, most people say I'm lucky to have her." Naruto said with a grin.

"Yeah, but you have some refining qualities. You're strong, dependable, unpredictable, and you can cook up a nice meal." Haku said.

"Thanks Haku." Naruto said while smiling.

They soon finished up breakfast. Haku offered to do the dishes while Naruto went and showered. When he got out of the bathroom, Haku was waiting for him. They decided to head out to the training field since there was nothing else to do. When they arrived, it was still almost 8. They didn't need to meet up with the team until 9 so Haku and Naruto decided to spar a bit.

"Alright, Haku, don't hold back on me," Naruto said grinning.

"Okay, Naruto," Haku replied.

Haku threw some senbon at Naruto, who deflected them with a kunai. Haku then rushed at Naruto and threw some precise attacks. Naruto kept up with Haku's speed and dodged all of his attacks. Haku just kept on pressuring Naruto, leading them towards the pond. They were then fighting over water.

"Naruto, it's over." Haku said. "You're in my area, now. Secret Technique: Crystal Ice Mirrors!" Soon, mirrors made of ice surrounded both of them.

Naruto grinned at the jutsu. He then closed his eyes for a few seconds and opened them to that of a toad's. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

Naruto then ran towards an opening when Haku threw a senbon at him. Naruto felt it coming at the last second and dodged it. He then immediately headed to another opening when Haku rushed over to him to deliver a swift blow. Naruto sensed Haku approaching him and he turned around to fight him. Naruto threw a punch at Haku's face, but it missed. But, just as it missed, Haku's face got hit with a force of air and he was shot backwards.

"H-how did you do that?" Haku asked as he began recovering.

"You have your secret techniques and I have mine." Naruto said with a grin. "You're mirrors have a big weakness here, though."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Haku asked.

"This!" Naruto said as he dispelled the chakra keeping him afloat. He then swam away from the mirrors and came up outside of the area. "I let you lead me to the pond on purpose. You'd think that it would be the perfect area for your Jutsu, but here, there leaves one huge opening," Naruto said while grinning.

Haku just gawked at him. "A-Amazing, Naruto."

"Thanks. But it's not something that's that impressive. I wonder, though, how strong these mirrors really are." Naruto then prepared a clone and made a Rasengan. He then launched himself at the mirror and the Rasengan broke the mirror. Haku was simply amazed that he could see the actual chakra form in his hand. He was left speechless. "Impressed now? Haha, I thought that you'd find that interesting. Well, these mirrors are pretty durable to normal attacks. This is some Jutsu, Haku. Anyways, I think that's enough sparring. Let's head off to meet up with everyone."

"Oh shoot! It's already 10!" Haku said as he was about to run. Naruto quickly stopped him in his tracks.

"Relax. We're probably going to get there before Kakashi does, anyway." Naruto said with a grin.

_At the bridge_

Sakura and Sasuke had been waiting for the last hour. They were a little upset that no one had shown up. They expected Kakashi to be late, but were more upset that Naruto and Haku weren't suffering with them.

Sakura figured that Sasuke wasn't up for any conversation so she kept quiet.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was wondering what happened to Sakura. 'She hasn't even tried to talk to me. I'm not even sure if she's acknowledging my existence. Has she taken my words from yesterday to heart? Wait! Why does this even concern me? I shouldn't care about her acknowledging me. At least there's one less fan girl in my life.'

Naruto and Haku began walking over to them.

"Hey guys!" Naruto yelled to them.

Sakura grew a few tick marks at the corner of her head. "You guys are late!" she yelled.

Haku smiled and replied, "But, it looks like we've made it before Kakashi-sensei."

All of a sudden, there was a puff of smoke. Kakashi appeared on top of the railing of the bridge.

"Yo." Kakashi said with a wave.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura yelled.

"Oh. Well you see, my alarm clock's batteries died so I ended up oversleeping a little." Kakashi said apologetically. Sakura just sighed at the Jonin's excuse. "Oh. This is the payment for the mission." Kakashi said while handing money to the team. "Now, let's get to our missions."

Team 7's first mission was to pluck weeds out of a garden. Kakashi just took a relaxing seat while Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Haku began plucking the weeds. After they were done, they had to pick up garbage from the river. Haku made things go much faster by using his water style to put the garbage in baskets. Next, they had to go catch the cat, Tora, again. They caught the cat in little time. After that, they had to help move some lumber. But, with Naruto's shadow clones, they were able to move it all in one go. Their final mission was to go walk some dogs. Naruto decided to take all the dogs so he created a few shadow clones and they walked through the streets with relative ease. Naruto was just thinking how easy these D-rank missions would've been in the past if he just made some extra shadow clones to help them out.

After their final mission, Kakashi thought to himself, 'At least there were no problems.' He then looked up to see a bird. "Hey guys. That'll be it for today." And Kakashi disappeared with a puff of smoke.

Sasuke then began walking off on his own. He figured he'd get some training in. Sakura decided to show Haku around the village. And, Naruto just walked around. 'Hmm, maybe I'll see what Hinata's up to.' Naruto thought.

Naruto then heard someone crying in pain. He went over to the commotion to see Konohamaru and his friends in trouble. Apparently they'd gotten on Kankuro's nerves and were going to pay for it.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Naruto asked Kankuro.

"Mind your own business. I'm busy teaching this brat a lesson." Kankuro said as he gripped Konohamaru's scarf even harder.

"Let me go! I just accidentally bumped into you!" Konohamaru yelled. Moegi and Udon (Konohamaru's friends) just looked helpless and scared.

"Kankuro, if we don't hurry up, then he'll get upset." Temari told her brother.

"Don't worry. I'm just finishing up." Kankuro replied.

"I never thought you Sand shinobi were so low that you'd bully the weak." Naruto said with a smirk.

"What did you just say to me?!" Kankuro yelled at him. "You want to take this kid's place?!"

"Oh, I'm so scared!" Naruto said sarcastically with a smile.

"Argh!" Kankuro yelled as he charged at Naruto.

But, he was struck by something in the head. It felt as hard as a rock. Sasuke appeared to be sitting on a branch with a few rocks in his hand.

"What are you bastards doing in our village?" Sasuke said coldly.

Kankuro looked pissed while Temari thought Sasuke looked handsome.

"Great. Now there's another guy that's pissing me off." Kankuro muttered.

"Get lost." Sasuke told him.

"You punk! Get down here! I hate showoffs the most." Kankuro told Sasuke. Then he pulled out what he was carrying on his back.

"Don't tell me you're going to use Crow?" Temari asked him.

Sasuke was a little interested in what this thing was that Kankuro was holding. But then he felt a chill go down his spine, as if something unpleasant was nearby.

"Kankuro, stop it. You're an embarrassment to our village," a Genin said while upside down on a branch. He had red hair, black circles around his eyes, and carried a big gourd. But his most distinctive feature was the love symbol at the left corner of his face.

"G-Gaara," Kankuro said uneasily.

Sasuke then turned around, surprised at the sudden appearance of the Genin. 'When did he get there? He's as smooth as Kakashi!'

Gaara then used his sand and teleported right beside Kankuro and Temari. "Losing control of yourself in a fight… how pathetic. Do you remember why we even came to this village?" Gaara said coldly.

"Gaara. Listen, they started it and-" Kankuro said before he was cut off.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." Gaara said with killer intent.

Kankuro quickly shut his mouth and apologized. Temari apologized, too.

'So this guy's their leader? He's good.' Sasuke thought.

"Sorry about them," Gaara said. 'To be able to hit Kankuro with a stone, he's good.' Gaara thought. "It looks like we've got here too early, but we didn't come here to play around." Gaara told his teammates.

"I-I know that…" Kankuro said.

"Let's go." Gaara told them.

"Hold it." Sasuke told them. They stopped in their tracks. "Why are Sand ninja here? State your purpose."

"Hey, hold on." Temari said as she showed him her pass. "We're here for the Chunin Exams."

Sasuke flinched at her words. 'Chunin Exams?" he thought. Sasuke then jumped down. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Who, me?" Temari asked excitedly.

"No, the one with the gourd. State your name," Sasuke replied.

"My name is Gaara of the Desert. I'm interested in your name as well." Gaara told him.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke responded.

Gaara then motioned for Kankuro and Temari to leave. After they were gone, Sasuke disappeared.

Konohamaru immediately ran up to Naruto saying, "Woah! You sure saved me there."

"Uh. I didn't do anything." Naruto said with a hand behind his head.

"You kidding? If it wasn't for you, I'd have a couple of black eyes right now," Konohamaru said. "Make me your student!"

"Eheheh," Naruto said uneasily. He then formed a hand sign and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Wow! That's so cool! Come on guys, let's go find our master!" Konohamaru told Moegi and Udon.

_With Kakashi_

"You've been assembled for only one reason. Most of you already know what that is," the Third Hokage said.

"It's already time…" Kakashi said under his breath.

"I saw them already in the village. So when is it then?" Genma said with a senbon in his mouth.

"In a week." the old Hokage replied.

"Wow, that soon?" a Jonin asked.

"I'll announce it properly. 7 days from now, on the first day of the seventh moon... the Chunin Selection Exam will commence!" the Third Hokage said. "So let's get this over with. First, we'll hear from those who are watching over the new Genin."

Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi all walked forward.

The Third Hokage let out a puff of smoke before speaking. "Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma… Well? Are there any Genin that you'd like to enter in this Chunin Selection Exam? After a Genin has properly completed at least 8 missions, they may take the exam if nominated by their sensei. Of course completing more missions than that is normal. If they completed less, there may still be exceptions."

Iruka stood there watching. 'He doesn't even need to ask them. They aren't ready.' Iruka thought.

"Team 7, consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and the team's newest member, Haku… Under the name of Kakashi Hatake, I nominate all four of them to take the Chunin Selection Exam." Kakashi said. Iruka was so shocked by this.

"Team 8, consisting of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Shino Aburame… Under the name of Kurenai Yuuhi, I nominate all of them." Kurenai said.

"Team 10, consisting of Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara, I also nominate all of them." Asuma said with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Hmm… All of them? How rare…" Lord Hokage said.

"Hold on a second!" Iruka yelled.

"Yes Iruka?" the third asked.

"Lord Hokage, if I may, most of these Genin were students in my class. Of course they are all very talented, but it's too early for them to take the exam. They need more experience. I can't understand the Jonin's reasoning." Iruka said.

Kakashi looked up at Iruka. "I became a Chunin when I was 6."

"Naruto's not like you!" Iruka stammered.

Kakashi looked at the Third Hokage. Naruto's secret was kept only between the Jonin and himself. They didn't want this to spread. Kakashi then looked back at Iruka. "You should have more faith in these students. They may even surpass me." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Stop joking!" Iruka yelled.

Kakashi's face then became serious. "Iruka, I can understand your feelings, but these Genin are no longer your students. They are a part of my squad and I'm their commanding officer. If I say that they're ready, then they're ready." Kakashi said coldly.

"Alright everyone, that's enough. Let's continue with the Genin with a year of experience," Lord Hokage said.

_After the meeting_

Kakashi walked over to Iruka. "Hey. I'm sorry if what I said made you upset, but I'm their sensei. I know if they're ready or not."

"I still can't agree with your decision," Iruka replied.

"Okay, well how about this. You can test them yourself to see if they're ready for this," Kakashi proposed.

"Alright then, if you're so confident in them, then this should be a piece of cake for them," Iruka said.

"Okay. You'll do it after I give them their permission slips," Kakashi said.

_With Naruto_

He'd spent the last hour trying to hide from Konohamaru and his squad. He's been pretty good at finding where he was. He saw Hinata in the corner of his eye.

Naruto moved to her position quickly. "Oy, Hinata," Naruto said with a smile.

Hinata turned around to see her crush behind her. Her face got a small blush as she replied, "Hi, N-Naruto."

"So, what are you doing now?" Naruto asked the shy girl.

"Oh, well we just finished up our missions for today." she replied.

"Great!" Naruto yelled aloud. "Let's do something, Hinata. Whatever you want to do," Naruto said with a smile.

"A-A-Anything?" Hinata asked. Naruto replied with a nod. "Can w-we f-fight?"

Naruto was a little thrown off by her request. "You want to spar?" Hinata vigorously nodded. "Okay then. Let's go!"


	12. Chapter 12

_At the Training Ground_

Hinata was really nervous. She was about to show Naruto her true self. But she couldn't be nervous now. This was too important. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't want to hurt his precious Hinata. He already knows of her abilities but was thinking about what he should do against her.

"H-Here I c-come!" Hinata yelled.

She ran up to Naruto with her palm out. She sent a few jabs, but Naruto just dodged them all. She then threw in some kicks, but Naruto ducked under them. Hinata then threw a few more palm strikes but Naruto performed a few backflips.

'Wow. She's really trying hard,' the blond thought. Naruto then performed his signature move. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

About 6 Naruto clones appeared. They all made a fighting stance. "Here we go!" they all yelled.

Hinata readied herself. She watched as the clones surrounded her. She then ran up to one and struck a palm strike. That clone quickly disappeared. Another clone right next to her performed a slow kick below. Hinata easily jumped over the kick and kicked that clone in the face. She then threw shuriken at the clones until there was only 1 Naruto remaining. Hinata quickly ran up to Naruto and began throwing a few punches. Naruto just tackled her down to the ground. Naruto was then on top of Hinata as she laid there defenseless.

"That was fun," Naruto told her. "You were amazing, Hinata!"

Hinata blushed at his comment. "Y-Yeah right. Y-You w-were t-taking it e-easy and you still beat me so fast."

Naruto sighed at her comment. He then got off of her and picked her up from the ground. "Hinata, if I was serious, you'd be in trouble." Naruto then walked to the closest tree and held his hand up. A swirling sphere appeared from his hand. Hinata thought that it was a mini rotation in his hand. Naruto then struck the tree and the tree broke. Naruto then took out a kunai and applied some chakra. The kunai then got a sharp edge and Naruto threw it threw a few trees. It went straight threw them all. It stopped when it fell into the river.

Hinata had just looked at him, amazed. She then smiled and thought, 'I always thought that you were amazing, Naruto. You're always trying your best and you're always working hard. You really are amazing.' She then walked up to him and held his hands. "Th-that w-was so c-cool, N-Naruto."

"Heh. I am pretty amazing," Naruto said while putting a hand behind his head. "Hey, want to head back to the village?"

Hinata replied, "O-Okay."

_In the village_

Naruto and Hinata were walking through the streets. Hinata noticed that they were getting some evil glares from the villagers. Hinata returned those looks with an angry look of her own.

"Umm. Hinata, what are you doing?" Naruto asked. He actually thought that her angry look was cute, as if she was like an angry bunny.

Hinata looked back to Naruto. "O-Oh. W-Well the v-villagers are g-giving angry l-looks."

Naruto then smiled at her. "Hinata, you don't need to worry about them. They're probably just jealous that I get to be with such an amazing girl," Naruto said.

Hinata blushed at his comment.

"Hey, why don't we go get some cinnamon rolls?" Naruto suggested.

"O-Okay!" Hinata replied. Cinnamon rolls were her favorite.

They found a nearby bakery. Naruto asked for a few cinnamon rolls. The cashier was going to say something, but saw that Naruto was with the heir to the Hyuga clan. The Hyuga brought a lot of business to this bakery, so the cashier didn't dare try and pull anything.

Naruto and Hinata then walked to the park. Hinata quickly remembered something extremely important. Her eyes shot open with a little sadness. She then gathered up her courage and began to talk to Naruto.

"H-Hey Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"What's up, Hinata?" Naruto said while eating his cinnamon roll.

"Well, y-you s-see. M-My father f-found out th-that we w-were g-going out and h-he w-wants to m-meet you," the shy Hyuga said.

_Hinata's Flashback_

Hinata had been called to her father's office.

Hiashi Hyuga heard a knock on his door. He then activated his Byakugan and saw that Hinata was outside his door.

"Come in, Hinata," Hiashi told his daughter.

"Y-You wanted to see me, f-father?" Hinata told her father.

"Yes. Another member of the clan informed me that you've been going out with Naruto Uzumaki. Is this true?" Hiashi asked.

"Y-Yes, father," Hinata said quietly.

Hiashi just shook his head. "This is disappointing. Not only did you not inform me of this, but you also decided to be with that low class boy. I don't want you to associate yourself with this boy anymore. Do I make myself clear?"

"B-But father, I-" Hinata said before she was cut off.

"Just being associated with him brings down our clan's reputation. I don't want you seeing him anymore. Do I make myself clear?" Hiashi asked in a more stern voice.

Hinata just looked at her father and saw the seriousness in his eyes. But, she wouldn't let her relationship with Naruto end because of her father. She'd waited a long time to have her dream of Naruto asking her out come true.

Hinata took one deep breath and yelled, "No!" Hiashi was thrown off by his daughter's assertiveness. "I will not stop seeing Naruto! You don't have the right to do that!"

Hiashi, recovering from his shock, said, "Hinata, I'm your father. I will dictate who you may or may not see."

"No! You won't!" Hinata yelled at him.

Hiashi was surprised. Hinata had never been the kind of person to speak out against him. Frankly, he liked this Hinata instead of the usual timid Hinata. This was the kind of person who'd actually be more worthy of ruling the clan as a head member. Was the Uzumaki kid actually having a positive effect on his daughter?

Hiashi decided that Hinata wouldn't agree to his conditions. "If this boy means that much to you, then please invite him over for dinner tonight."

Now it was Hinata's turn to be thrown off. Her father didn't punish her for her actions, but rather listened to her thoughts and asked her to invite her crush over. Hinata replied with a, "Hai," and then excused herself from her father's office.

'Hmmm. Hinata's finally growing up,' Hiashi thought to himself as he began to work on some paperwork.

Hinata, though, was panicking about the situation. 'Oh no… What am I going to tell Naruto?' Hinata thought to herself.

_Back with Naruto and Hinata_

Naruto was shocked at what Hinata told him. Yes, he's had dinner in the Hyuga household, but that was when he was older.

"Your father wants to meet with me?" Naruto asked. Hinata nodded. "Oh… Well that's a surprise, hehe. When are we meeting?"

"T-Tonight," Hinata replied.

Naruto's heart sank. He had to meet Hiashi tonight?! In the future, he'd have enough time to get dressed up, practice using formalities, and even how to properly eat. He remembered most of what he did when he had to first meet her father, but that ended with her father chasing him around with a sword.

Kurama sensed Naruto's uneasiness. "**Hey kit. Don't worry. If he chops you up, I'll heal you right back up.**"

'That's not helping my situation!' Naruto told the fox.

"**Heheh, well at least he won't kill you****,**" the fox snickered.

'Can't you just come up with something useful?!' Naruto asked.

"**Living is pretty useful****,**" Kurama told him. "**Fine… Okay, how about you impress him with your high-class jutsu. I'm pretty sure that a man like himself knows of Minato's Hiraishin no Jutsu****,**" Kurama suggested.

Naruto thought for a moment. If he were to prove to Hiashi that he was a ninja worthy of being with Hinata, then this plan might work. 'That might work! Thanks fur ball!'

"Okay, Hinata. I'll be there at around 7," Naruto said with a smile.

Hinata looked at him with a happy expression. Nothing could scare her Naruto. She still worried about what would happen if her father disapproved of him. But knowing Naruto, it would be okay. After all, he could make the impossible happen.

Naruto then said bye to Hinata as he rushed to a clothes store. He had to get himself a nice kimono for tonight. He quickly purchased what he needed, not caring of the price, and rushed home to get ready.

At home, Naruto was trying to look presentable for Hiashi.

Naruto sighed. 'How did I introduce myself to him again?'

"**Beats me. I don't usually pay much attention to your social life****,**" Kurama told him.

Naruto stopped in thought and went over many different scenarios. 'Hmmm. Hello, Hiashi-san. No no no! Too casual. I'm honored by your presence, Hyuga-sama. Arghhh! Now that sounds like I'm insulting him! Yo Hyuga-sama?'

Naruto kept running through different ways to introduce himself to Hiashi but none of them seemed right. He then realized the time and quickly left for the Hyuga compound.

_At the Hyuga compound_

Hinata paced around in her room. She knew that Naruto had no parents so it would be hard for him to know proper etiquette. How was she supposed to get her father to approve of Naruto?

"Lady Hinata, it's time to go to the dining area," a cadet member of the Hyuga family told her.

Hinata answered, "Thank you. You are dismissed." With that, the member walked off to continue his duties.

Hinata turned to her mirror and looked herself in the eye. No matter what, she was going to be with Naruto, with or without her father's consent. She then got herself ready and went to the dining area.

At the dining area, a fancy, large table was set up for about 10. But only Hiashi, Hanabi, Hinata, and Naruto were going to be eating tonight. Hanabi and Hiashi were already seated at the table. Hinata took a seat by her sister, leaving a plate for Naruto right next to her father.

A servant quickly came forward and bowed his head to the main family. "Introducing, Naruto Uzumaki," the servant said.

Naruto then came in a little flustered at his introduction. He then bowed towards Hiashi and said, "Good evening, Hyuga-sama. I'm honored to be welcomed in your grand establishment."

Hiashi looked back at the young blonde. He didn't show it, but he was impressed at the blonde's introduction, considering the rumors he's heard of him. "Welcome, Naruto Uzumaki," Hiashi said sternly.

Naruto looked up at Hiashi. Anyone could see the intimidated look on his face, but Hinata was so glad that he went so far for her. Hanabi thought that Naruto looked pathetic, especially since he was so scared. Naruto was shown to his seat and some servants began bringing out food.

Hiashi broke the awkward silence. "So, Naruto, I believe that you've been seeing my daughter for the past few weeks."

"**Ahahah. This guy knows how to casually bring up a subject!**" Kurama said while laughing.

Naruto took a little gulp. "Yes, Hiashi-sama, I have been."

"Well did you ever take the time to ask permission to be with my daughter?" Hiashi asked sternly.

Naruto took a little time to think of what he was going to say next. "Well, Hiashi-sama, I'm not really aware of the requirements for being with Hinata. I grew up without parents so please excuse my informal approach. I humbly ask for permission to date your daughter."

Hiashi looked back at the boy. He knew that he was an orphan and had no relatives. He was also impressed with the way Naruto was able to present himself, despite his background. He then thought about the future of the Hyuga clan. He had already planned on having Hanabi, Hinata's sister, run the clan because Hinata hadn't shown any ability in being able to rule so there wouldn't be much harm if Naruto was with Hinata. In fact, having the demon fox under the Hyuga clan would actually raise their status.

"Can you give me any good reasons as to why I should allow Hinata to date you?" Hiashi asked the young blond.

Naruto's look of intimidation turned to a look of confidence. "Hiashi-sama, all I know in my heart is that I care for Hinata and that I would never do anything to hurt her. If you allow me to be with Hinata, I will promise that I will make her happy. She makes me want to be a better person and is someone that is precious to me."

Hinata blushed at his comments. 'I never knew that I was so important to him.'

"Follow me, Naruto," Hiashi commanded as he got up.

Naruto was confused. He'd never had to follow Hiashi anywhere when he visited as an adult. Hiashi took Naruto outside to the training ground. Hinata and Hanabi followed behind them, interested in what their father had planned.

Naruto was still wondering what Hiashi was planning, but once he felt killer intent directed towards him, he quickly drew a fighting stance.

"Your reasons are just, but I've heard that you were the worst of your class at the academy. If you so desire to be with my daughter, then show me, not with words, but with actions showing that you're capable," Hiashi said coldly as he began to strike.

Naruto formed his hands in the sign of the Shadow Clone Jutsu and made a few copies of him. The Narutos then scattered themselves around and readied themselves for Hiashi's attack.

Hiashi was surprised at Naruto's ability to be able to pull off a Jonin-level technique. He then began sending palm strikes at the clones.

Naruto had the clones dodge all the palm strikes and then had a clone focus a bit of chakra in their right palm. All of a sudden, a ball of chakra appeared in the palm of the clone's hand.

Hiashi looked at the technique with complete shock. The technique was the Fourth Hokage's own creation. He then prepared his rotation technique to counter the Rasengan.

The clash of the two techniques and both the clone and Hiashi were sent flying in opposite directions. Hanabi and Hinata were staring awestruck at how Naruto was able to hurt their father. Hiashi looked up after the smoke cleared and saw Naruto standing above him with kunai at his neck. For a second, Naruto looked like the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Hiashi then stopped the match between then and got up.

Hanabi thought to herself, 'Wow, big sis really knows how to pick them. This guy's pretty strong.'

"Well Naruto, it seems that you actually have some ability. I hereby give you permission to date my daughter." Hiashi said.

Naruto looked up happily and Hinata was smiling at her father's recognition of Naruto.

"But-" Hiashi started.

Naruto got very uneasy from that interjection.

"-if you ever give me a reason to believe that you've hurt Hinata or have done anything inappropriate with her, remember that she comes from a prestigious clan. The Hyuga are very gifted at sealing of one's chakra points. It would be a shame for you to never be able to make children, wouldn't it?" Hiashi said coldly while he began polishing the Hyuga sword with a clean rag (Hiashi thought that he wouldn't be able to do such a feat considering he lost horribly to the boy).

Naruto started sweating bullets. His smiling face changed to one of complete fear. He knew that he'd never cross paths with Hiashi if he knew what was best for him.

"Now that we've finished the ground rules, why don't we go upstairs and begin eating dinner," Hiashi said.


	13. Chapter 13

_After Dinner_

Naruto said his goodbyes to Hinata and her family and quickly left the establishment. He didn't really want to stay in the same building as Hiashi for too long. He quickly ran across buildings to his home.

"**See? Now that wasn't so bad. He doesn't hate you****,**" Kurama said with a sarcastic voice.

'I can't believe I had to re-live that. At least he acknowledges me and that I didn't have to prove myself like I'll have to do with every villager.' Naruto sighed in his mind.

All of a sudden, two Anbu ninja appeared before Naruto. "Naruto Uzumaki," one of the ninja said. "The Third Hokage would like to see you."

Naruto mentally sighed because all he wanted to do was go home and sleep. He then made his way towards the Hokage Mansion.

_At the Hokage's Mansion_

Naruto knocked on the door to the Third's room.

"Come in," Lord Hokage said.

Naruto did as instructed and came in to see the Third with Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, Asuma, Anko, Aoba, Iruka, and Genma.

"Thank you all for coming to this meeting on such short notice." Hokage-sama began. "Before I begin this meeting, I want you all to know that everything that's said in this room is confidential," the Third said as he put a barrier around the room. "The reason I've called all of you here is concerning Naruto. I feel that first, you should all know that Naruto isn't the Naruto you thought he was. He's from the future."

Kurenai, Asuma, and Kakashi didn't react to this, being as how they already were informed about it, but everyone else was shocked.

"Hokage-sama, you can't be serious. If this is something Naruto came up with, then it must be another one of his outrageous pranks," Iruka said.

Kakashi interjected. "If this was a prank, it would be one very impressive prank. It's not all talk. His abilities have been far from the reports I've received from the Academy. I know it seems farfetched, but Naruto is telling the truth."

"How can there be a jutsu that powerful that it would send someone back in time?" Anko asked.

"Actually, it is more of a transportation jutsu than a jutsu that sends someone back in time. Basically, it transports the person a certain distance over our timeline, but they enter and exit through their bodies so you essentially transport yourself to an earlier event," the Third Hokage said. "However, this jutsu only had the ability to transport someone back a minute or so at most and that is only if they know the Hiraishin. Naruto, though, accidentally sent himself a few years back, though."

Naruto then spoke up. "Yeah, in the future, I obtained part of the Sage of Six Path's power and he's been able to transcend both space and time. When I opened the scroll, I think that power allowed me to go back in time, but I somehow ended up here by accident."

Iruka just looked at Naruto with pure shock. A new Naruto was standing before him. He wasn't the same Naruto that was the worst student at the Academy. He was giving expertise deduction at a higher level than any Genin. Did Naruto really come from the future?

"Naruto, I want to hear it from you. Are you really from the future?" Iruka asked the young blond.

Naruto looked back at him. He knew that it would be hard to accept that he was from the future and he felt bad that he had to keep it a secret till now. "Iruka-sensei, I really am from the future."

Iruka looked back at him. He still couldn't grasp that the Naruto before him was almost as old as he was, but he just sighed.

"So," Anko interrupted. "As much as I'd like to stick around and watch this mushy scene between student and sensei, I'd rather wrap things up. What are we going to do with the scroll?"

"For now, it poses no threat. I've already securely sealed it in a safe location where no one will be able to easily find it. If possible, I'd like to make sure no one ever has to find out about this incident." Lord Hokage responded.

"But, Lord Hokage, I know quite a few people that would be interested in this technique." Anko said while putting a hand over her neck. "Wouldn't it be better to just destroy it?"

"While you're right that this scroll would indeed attract attention, it poses no clear threat to us, seeing as how no one would be able to use it effectively except Naruto," Kakashi said.

"So then you're saying that it's essentially useless. Then why bother keeping it? Isn't it just a waste of space?" Kurenai argued.

"Although it may be useless as of this moment, it may serve purpose in the future. Now that Naruto's back in this timeline, the future's bound to change. Now, if it's for better or for worse, we have no idea. If the latter happens, then we might have to rely on Naruto using this scroll. It's kind of like a last resort." Kakashi said.

The Jonin agreed with Kakashi's logic. He proved a very good point with what he was arguing.

"Okay, now before I end this meeting, Naruto, is there anything you need to tell us that may be helpful in the future?" the Third asked.

Naruto thought for a moment and then looked back at the old Hokage. "Well, to be honest, there's going to be an invasion soon. During the Chunin Exams, the Sand will ally with the Sound village and try and destroy the Leaf."

The Jonin looked up with a serious look.

"But, why would the Sand try and take us out? We just spent a lot of time building our treaty with them." Lord Hokage said.

"Orochimaru is behind this. He leads the Sound and he's tricking the Sand into helping him destroy Konoha," Naruto replied.

The Third Hokage just flinched at the mention of his old student's name while Anko put her hand over the curse mark on her neck. He should've known that Orochimaru would be behind a plan like this. "Naruto, is there anything else I need to know involving this matter or Orochimaru?" Hiruzen asked calmly.

"I think I should tell you Orochimaru's goal, too. You already know that he wants to destroy the village, but you should also know that he's after Sasuke's body," Naruto said.

Kakashi looked up at Naruto. "He's after Sasuke?!"

Naruto nodded. "Orochimaru wants the Uchiha bloodline that can master any jutsu and make him immortal."

"Hokage-sama, we need to take extra precautions now. We need to locate him and detain him immediately! We also need to give the Uchiha a protective Anbu squad and make them stay with him at all times," Anko told the Third.

"You say that now, but do you realize how hard that's going to be? Orochimaru was a student of the Third. It's not going to be easy to find him, but detain him too? That's like finding a grain of sand in a field of wheat," Asuma replied.

"Well then what do you expect us to do then?!" Anko retaliated.

"Calm down, Anko," the Third Hokage said. "Doing anything rash will alert him that we know something's wrong. Not only that, but it would bring the village into a huge state of distress if they knew about this upcoming event. I think it's best to just be on our guards and look out for anything out of the ordinary."

"That's all we really can do in a delicate situation such as this," Kakashi said.

There was a period of silence. No one really knew what to say after hearing all of this.

Naruto interjected. "So, since that's all, can I leave now?"

The Third looked at the clock and saw that it was getting late. "Yes, Naruto, you may leave. Thank you for valuable information that you supplied. I'm sure that it'll be very helpful soon." Hiruzen said as he released the barrier.

"Okay. Then I'll see you tomorrow Kakashi and see you later Iruka," Naruto said as he ran off.

"Tch… What a rude kid. I mean even though he's from the future, he could still address people properly." Genma said with a smirk.

_With Naruto_

Naruto ran across the rooftops straight home. He couldn't wait to sleep in his cozy bed and relax. He got home to see that Haku was sitting on the couch watching television. Haku looked up at Naruto.

"Oh. There you are. Where have you been?" Haku asked Naruto.

"Ugh, I had to meet Hinata's father. It was pretty much the worst experience of my life" Naruto said as he began to make his way to the bathroom.

"Oh? Sounds like fun," Haku said joyfully.

Naruto just came out with a toothbrush in his mouth giving Haku a dreadful look.

Haku got up and turned off the television. "Well, anyways, I think I'm going to go off to bed now. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Oh. Sorry I made you wait up for me," Naruto said as he began rinsing his mouth.

Haku made a little wave as he went off into his room as if he was motioning that it wasn't a big deal. Naruto finished up in the bathroom and quickly changed into his pajamas. He was glad to finally get some sleep from this crazy day. Tomorrow would be interesting, though.

_The Next Day_

Naruto woke up bright and early. It was 8 A.M. and he could already hear Haku in the shower. He decided to get up and get breakfast ready. He went to the fridge and took out a few eggs and put some bread in the toaster. He also grabbed a frying pan and began cooking scrambled eggs. He went back to the fridge to get some onions and peppers to throw in for seasoning. By the time he was finished, the sound of the shower running had stopped. Naruto set up the table for him and Haku and poured them some orange juice.

Haku got out of the shower with a towel around his head sniffing the wonderful aroma. He saw the table set up and then smiled at Naruto. "Good morning, Naruto. Thanks for fixing up breakfast. I'll cook something nice for us later."

"Ah, it's no problem," Naruto said while he began helping himself to the scrambled eggs.

Haku also sat down and began to eat. After Naruto finished eating, he headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. By the time he was out, it was 9:30. Naruto and Haku both decided to get ready to head to Team 7's meeting spot.

_At the Meeting Spot_

Sakura was already waiting at the meeting spot. She was leaning against the railing of the bridge that they were supposed to meet at. Usually, she'd be thinking of how to make Sasuke notice her, but now she was only thinking of how she could be useful to the team. She had been studying some Genjutsu scrolls last night and thought that she was getting the hang of some difficult techniques. She wondered if she'd need to use it anytime soon. As she was wondering, she noticed Sasuke walking up towards the bridge. She gave him a nice "hello" and continued on with her thoughts.

Sasuke was just staring at her. He couldn't believe that she let him go so easily. She must've been doing this all as an act to get his attention. That had to be it. So Sasuke decided to make her pay some attention to him. He decided to walk towards the bridge gate and stand upside down from the gate.

Sakura just noticed him and then just looked back at the clouds still pondering her thoughts.

Sasuke was really surprised that she wasn't staring at him in awe or something. 'Wow. She really isn't into me anymore. I mean, why should I care whether she likes me or anything?! She's just a nuisance!' Sasuke thought to himself.

Naruto and Haku were both making their way to Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura gave a little wave to them and Sasuke just pretended that they didn't exist. 'Geez, he seems upset about something,' Naruto thought to himself. Naruto remembered that today would be the day that they'd receive the Chunin Exam slips and their adventures will begin again.

At that moment, everyone heard a little poof and they all looked up. Kakashi had shown up with some papers in his hands. He responded with a little "Yo."

"You're late!" Sakura exclaimed at her sensei.

"Eheheh, yeah, well I kinda saw this old lady carrying lots of baggage and I just had to help her out," Kakashi said with his eye in a U shape.

"Liar," Sakura yelled.

Kakashi sighed. "Well, all jokes aside, I have something important for all of you. You probably already know this, but the Chunin Exams are upon us." Sasuke's eyes lit up and he thought back to Gaara. Kakashi continued, "I've nominated all of you to take the exam. Here are the forms for the Chunin Exams. Though, it's only a nomination, whether you take the exam or not is your decision. Those who wish to take it should sign those papers and turn them in at room 301 by 4 p.m. tomorrow.

All the Genin nodded as they took their forms. Though, Sakura looked a little depressed when she took her form. Sasuke noticed this, but didn't say a word about it.

"That's all," Kakashi said as he disappeared like the wind.

The four Genin all started walking as they pondered to themselves about the Chunin Exams.

'Heh, I wonder how things will turn out this time,' Naruto thought.

'Hmm, I need to make sure I do my best for my new companions,' Haku thought with a sense of determination.

Sasuke was looking at his form intensely. 'Whether I become a Chunin or not is unimportant. I need to cross this bridge to find my answer. Heh, maybe I'll be able to fight Gaara,' Sasuke thought with a smile.

Sakura on the other hand wasn't as enthusiastic or happy as the others. She looked at her form with a little displeasure. 'Should I take this exam? I don't know if I'm ready for this. Even though the others are more than qualified, I've been lagging behind them. I'm not as strong as Sasuke or Naruto. Won't I just be a burden?' she thought.

Sasuke noticed that Sakura was more depressed than usual. 'Could she be thinking about not taking the exam?'

Sasuke stopped in his tracks and everyone else stopped to see what was up.

Sasuke spoke up. "Let's go to the training field. The exam is tomorrow. We should get in some training and work on our teamwork."

Naruto looked at Sasuke, surprised at his words. Then he smiled and said, "Alright. Then let's go already!"

Haku nodded and followed them while Sakura looked at Sasuke strangely. Sasuke wasn't the one who'd spout anything about teamwork. 'Is this his way of telling me that we are a team and need to do this together?' Sakura remembered when she, Naruto, and Sasuke took the bells from Kakashi. They weren't just mere students playing ninja. They were a team. Together, they made one impressive unit. Sakura quickly dispelled her doubtful thoughts about the exams and followed her squad.


	14. Chapter 14

_At the Training Ground_

Sasuke led the team to their training ground. Sakura looked at the training ground and thought about how Kakashi-sensei told them the importance of teamwork. It was through teamwork that they were able to get those bells.

"So, Sasuke, it's rare for you to ask us all to train together," Naruto said with a sly grin. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Sasuke looked at them and smirked a little. "I just thought that it'd be nice if we could all spar, that's all. Unless, of course, you're afraid that I'll just beat you."

Naruto formed a little tic mark on his forehead. 'Him beat me?! I'm the one that wiped the floor with him!'

"Anyways," Sasuke continued, "I think that we should use this as a chance to understand our fighting styles. The Chunin Exams are coming up soon, and I think we should all be ready."

Sakura then spoke up. "So, we're going to do this by sparring with each other?"

"Sparring's a nice way for each of us to understand our styles and how we all fight," Haku said. "Zabuza did that with me and I was trying to do that with you guys when you all were fighting him." Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke dropped a little sweat when Haku said that.

"Haku's right. It's how we can refine our own skills and coordinate our skills with each other," Sasuke said. "Ok, shall we begin?" Everyone nodded and distanced themselves from each other. "Ok then, let's start when this stone hits the pond," Sasuke said as he threw a stone.

SPLASH! As soon as the stone hit the pond, Sasuke began charging at Haku. Haku countered with his fists and their arms made rough contact with each other. Naruto came at them with a flurry of punches, and Haku and Sasuke had to release their attacks so that they could dodge. The three Genin then began to fight in close combat, but no one seemed to be landing a clean hit. Then, they noticed that Sakura wasn't in the fight, and moved apart from each other.

Sakura was nowhere to be found. Her entire presence was masked. Then Haku received a punch to his side and was knocked over a few feet. Sasuke immediately responded by activating his Sharingan. With an active Sharingan, he narrowly dodged a punch aimed at his gut. He could make out Sakura, perfectly, and threw her towards the trees. Sakura, however, performed a few hand signs, and Sasuke recognized them immediately. They were the hand signs for the Substitution technique. Sakura then appeared near the pond.

"Heh, Genjutsu doesn't work on these eyes," Sasuke said as he pointed to his Sharingan.

'Incredible! He has the Sharingan! They are just like Kakashi-sensei's, except he has two of them. Sasuke really is strong, huh,' Sakura thought. She then took out a kunai and got ready to make her next attack. "If Genjutsu won't work, then let's try ninjutsu and taijutsu," Sakura said, getting more pumped up.

Naruto saw the both of them getting more fired up. He also saw Haku recovering from being hit. 'Heh, I guess I should give them a little more of a challenge,' he thought as he performed his signature technique.

A small group of Naruto began charging at them all. Sasuke responded by using his Fireball Jutsu, incinerating a few of the clones. Sakura attached a small pink bomb on her kunai and launched it at some other clones. Haku began throwing some senbon at the clones. But, as much as they tried to destroy the clones, more would come charging in.

'This persistent dead-beat really knows how to be annoying,' Sasuke thought as he began punching the clones. It was easy for him to dodge the attacks because in front of his Sharingan, they were all coming in slow motion.

Sakura saw a clone coming at her and then launched a very strong punch at its face. That clone was sent flying into the other clones and they all dispersed. Naruto shuddered as he remembered how much Sakura's punches hurt.

Haku launched a water technique that cut down more clones. He then charged quickly at the real Naruto and the two began to engage in hand to hand combat. Without the real Naruto making more clones, the clones seemed to diminish. Naruto and Haku were fighting hard and Naruto landed a hard punch to Haku, sending Haku flying towards a tree. Haku hit it hard and fell towards the ground.

Naruto looked at the fallen Haku and quickly ran to him. "Haku, are you alright? Sorry, I guess I went a little wild there," Naruto said while offering a hand.

Sasuke and Sakura then joined them. "Well, I guess we should stop here," Sasuke said.

Haku then got up. "Oh, don't stop on my account. I'm just catching my second wind."

Sasuke looked at them all and then smirked. "It's alright. We don't need to overexert ourselves before the exam. I think we more or less have a grasp on how we each fight now."

"Heh, well who's ready for the Chunin Exams?" Naruto asked loudly with a big grin on his face. Haku thought that this exam would be fun. Sakura smiled with some fire in her eyes. Sasuke saw this and smiled a little.

"Geez, you're as loud as ever," Sasuke complained to Naruto. "So, shall we head back?"

"I think not!"

Everyone immediately turned around and saw a large ninja wearing a Grass village headband and a large raincoat.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked the stranger.

"It doesn't matter who I am because when I'm through with all of you, the Chunin Exams won't even cross your mind!"

Sasuke readied a kunai in his hand and Haku got a few senbon ready.

Sasuke replied, "So, you're here to make sure that we don't participate in the Chunin Exams? I didn't know that you foreign ninja were such cowards."

"Ahahah! You call my tactics cowardly, but I think of it as strategy. There's nothing wrong with weeding out the weaklings before the exam even begins," the ninja said with a sinister smile.

Sakura, to everyone's surprise, charged fast at the ninja. She threw a few kunai and the ninja jumped up into the air. Sasuke, Haku, and Naruto took this opportunity to hurl their weapons at him in mid-air. The ninja just deflected them with his umbrella. But then, he was attacked from behind with a hard kick to his back. Naruto had managed to quickly get to the ninja and strike him fast with the Hiraishin. The Grass ninja hit the ground hard.

"Ughhh, four against one isn't really playing fair," the Grass ninja said.

Sakura replied, "You call our tactics cowardly, but it's our strategy."

The Grass ninja, looking upset, got up and began to flee. "You haven't seen the last of me! Just you wait till the exam starts!"

Sasuke looked as the ninja began to leave. "Tch, if that's a sample of what the exam's going to be like, then this is going to be a boring exam."

_With the Grass ninja_

The Grass ninja stopped by a few trees. He had to admit that Naruto's kick to his back hurt a lot. Then, from behind some trees, Kakashi Hatake appeared.

"So, how'd they do?" Kakashi asked.

The Grass ninja performed a hand sign and then there was a puff of smoke. The Grass ninja turned out to be Iruka. "They passed with flying colors. Their teamwork was spot on. I think they'll have an easier time handling these exams than other teams."

"Good, so we're on the same page now," Kakashi said. "The only issue is, how will the test be formatted to accommodate their special team?"

Iruka sighed. "I don't know. I don't think there's ever been a four man squad before that entered the exams, but I think that the Hokage has made special conditions for them."

_With Team 7_

Team 7 was walking back to the village. They were wondering who that ninja was, but they didn't really care, considering how weak he was.

Naruto suddenly looked up and saw Gaara walking down the street. 'Hmmm, I wonder if I'll be able to make Gaara my friend again.'

"**I don't know. The sand-brat was really messed up. It might take another beating to knock some sense into him**," Kurama told Naruto.

'Hmmm, well let's see if I can make him become my friend faster,' Naruto thought with glee. "Hey guys, I'm gonna head out. We need to register tomorrow by 4 p.m. so let's meet at around 3?"

His teammates nodded.

"Alright, see you guys tomorrow," Naruto said as he ran off. Sakura, Sasuke, and Haku were wondering why Naruto wanted to run off so fast, but decided to let the blond ninja be.

Gaara sensed Naruto running towards him, but sensed no imminent danger, so he waited to see what this annoyance wanted.

"Hey, you're Gaara of the Desert, right?" Naruto asked.

"What do you want?" Gaara asked dreadfully.

Naruto gave him a little smile. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Do you want to be friends?"

Gaara was shocked by his question. Then, as if Gaara's head was in pain, he grabbed his head and cringed. 'Friends? What are friends? I love only myself!' "What is your aim, Leaf ninja?" Gaara asked, still in pain.

"Isn't it obvious?" Naruto asked. "I want to be your friend!"

"**Oy, you might be changing things a little too fast here. Maybe it would be better if we let things play out and beat him during the Chunin Exams?**" Kurama suggested.

'Kurama, I've already changed a bunch of things. There's no telling what'll happen now with Haku back and everyone knowing what's to come. I might as well try and get my friend to help us out here,' Naruto told Kurama.

Kurama just sighed. "**Whatever. You do what you think you need to do. I'll just be here if you need me**."

Gaara was just standing there, giving him a blank death stare. His chakra level started to rise a little.

Naruto noticed this and then interrupted him, "You're a feisty one, aren't you. If you want to fight, follow me. There are too many bystanders here, so fighting in this area would cause too many casualties."

Gaara said nothing, but his chakra became less agitated. He decided to follow Naruto. Naruto led him to an open area a few miles away from the village. Naruto knew full well that if Shukaku showed up, he didn't want the village to be in immediate danger.

"Gaara, I'm not lying when I said that I wanted to be your friend," Naruto told Gaara.

Gaara looked at him with an emotionless look. "Why would you want to be my friend?"

"Because Gaara, I can relate to you. I know the pain that you've been through. The pain of being a Jinchuriki is a pain that's unbearable," Naruto said. Gaara's eyes widened when he heard the word "Jinchuriki." Naruto continued, "It really sucks when all of the villagers hate you just for being you when you never did anything to them. You tried to win over their approval, but they only look at what's inside of you."

Gaara gave him a dark glare. "If you understand that, then you know that having friends is meaningless."

"No it's not! Having friends is what can save a Jinchuriki from that despair! It's what's given me strength and it's given me the power to become stronger. There is a strength we Jinchuriki are given from our tailed beasts, but there's an even greater strength called love."

Gaara again cringed in pain from Naruto's words. That one word echoed through his mind. "Love." Gaara then screamed in pain, as if Naruto's words brought forth immense distress. Gaara then screamed, "If this power you speak of is true, then show me that it can beat my power! Show me that you can beat me! And when you fail, mother will be that much happier that she received the blood of a useless preacher who has no idea what he's talking about!"

"**Guess you couldn't break it to him, huh**," Kurama snickered.

Naruto sighed. He figured that this might've happened. He's glad, though, that he made Gaara come out to the training field first. "Fine, Gaara. Let's fight!"

Gaara's gourd's cork shot into the sky. Sand then shot from the gourd and began to come towards Naruto.

"Ha, so that's the famous sand you carry around," Naruto said. He then threw some marked kunai at him, but his sand caught it. The sand then dropped the kunai beside Gaara and Gaara sent sand shuriken at Naruto. Naruto easily dodged them, and then disappeared in a flash.

"Wha-." Gaara said as he was then struck by Naruto to his chest. Naruto was able to mark Gaara in the process.

"Hehe, looks like you sand shield's too slow," Naruto said.

Gaara's blood was stirring. His sand then spread all around him. "Come," Gaara said.

"If you insist," Naruto said with a smirk. Naruto spread his marked kunai all around Gaara. Naruto then got a Rasengan ready.

'So, he's going to teleport to one of the marked kunai, huh. Hopelessly predictable,' Gaara thought.

Naruto then started running toward him. "Here I come!" Naruto then disappeared, and Gaara was ready to strike Naruto at one the kunai, but he wasn't ready for Naruto to appear right before him and strike him to the chest. "Rasengan!"

Naruto's Rasengan sent Gaara flying, destroying the sand armor around his chest. Gaara struggled getting up, and then felt a warm sensation around his chest. He felt it and felt a warm fluid immerse his hand. He wondered what it was so he looked down. It was red and warm, and unfortunately for him, he knew what it was. "BLOODDD! IT'S MY BLOOD," Gaara screamed ecstatically. Then sand began forming around him in a demonic form, forming a mini-Shukaku form. Everything above his waist was covered in sand and his eyes were much fiercer.

"**Oh, he's summoning Shukaku's power. This should be a fun fight**," Kurama said while getting ready.

'If he's getting serious, then I might as well bring out my power, too,' Naruto thought and then he brought out the chakra cloak from Kurama. He then summoned a few hands holding large Rasengans and got ready to launch his attack.

Gaara looked and was astounded at the young ninja. "**How interesting! You shall be a wonderful sacrifice, Naruto Uzumaki! What's better sacrifice than another beast?!**" Gaara asked viciously.

"Beast? Nah, I'm just your average ninja," Naruto said with a smirk.

"**Well, make this fight much more interesting, Naruto Uzumaki! Make me feel alive!**" Gaara screamed.

Naruto gave him a grin. He then began running forward. Gaara flung himself quickly at Naruto, but Naruto was able to jump upward and then hit Gaara with two Rasengans to the back. Gaara was knocked down hard to the ground, but got right back up.

Getting more annoyed, Gaara raised both his arms across himself. "**Arghhhh! Take this! Sand Shuriken!**" Gaara then launched a barrage of shuriken made of sand from his arms.

Naruto quickly threw a kunai to a nearby tree and then teleported to it. "Phew, that was a close one. Gaara, you could really hurt someone with that," Naruto said with a smile.

Naruto's foolishness just angered Gaara more and more.

Kurama sighed. "**He's getting angrier by the second. Don't you think we should shut him down?**"

'Kurama, it's harder than it looks!' Naruto stammered in his head.

Gaara charged at Naruto again with his large arms ready to slash at him, but Naruto created four large arms to catch Gaara and proceeded to rapidly punch Gaara in the face.

Gaara, being rapidly punched, was still only getting angrier. Everything that he'd gone through and everything he believed in was about to be shattered by this ninja. The only thought in his mind was winning. "**Arghhhhhhhhhhhh! I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU, NARUTO UZUMAKI!**"

Gaara then fully transformed into the one tailed beast, Shukaku.

'Oh, boy, ready for this, Kurama?' Naruto asked the fox inside of him.

Kurama snickered. "**At least it won't be boring. Let's do this Naruto!**"

'Alright!' Naruto immediately clamped his hands together and his chakra cloak grew to the size of Kurama. 'Let's go!'


	15. Chapter 15

_In the Hokage's Mansion_

The Hokage was beginning his workload of paperwork that needed to be done before the Chunin Exams started. But, he decided to take a little tea break. As he put his tea down, he noticed that it shook a little, like it was having little vibrations. Then, it hit. One big earthquake shook.

Two men rushed into the office. "Lord Hokage, are you alright?"

The old man just gave a stern serious look. "I am fine, but what the hell was that? Is the invasion happening already?!"

The two men just shook their heads. "I don't think so sir. It seems like it was just an earthquake."

'An earthquake, huh? Something's not right about this,' the Third Hokage thought with an ominous look on his face. "I want our sensors to detect any unusual behavior happening outside of the village at once. Quickly establish a team."

"Yes sir!" the two ninja said and then they vanished.

_With Temari and Kankuro_

"Ughh! I didn't hear anything about an earthquake happening in the Leaf!" Kankuro said as he stumbled to get up.

"Something's not right," Temari said aloud. Then she realized that she had no idea where Gaara was. "Kankuro, where's Gaara?!"

Kankuro immediately looked worried. "Oh no…" His mind raced to when he was a child, witnessing the Shukaku attacking the village. 'If he's on the loose, then we're all in danger!'

_With Naruto and Gaara_

Naruto had launched a Tailed Beast Bomb at Gaara, but Gaara sacrificed his right arm to survive the blow. Gaara knew that he didn't have the ability to make this match his on his own.

Gaara then started to laugh maniacally. "**Very interesting, Naruto Uzumaki. You intrigue me to no end! But, you've yet to see true despair. Let me show you what that is!**" Gaara then summoned his body at the top of his head. He then formed hand signs. "To thank you for entertaining me today, I'll show you the true power of Shukaku. Get ready! Play Possum Jutsu!" Gaara then fell asleep. The eyes of Shukaku then turned from a dull brown into a bright gold color.

"**Woohoo! I'm finally free! And who better to be there for my awakening then good ol' Kurama!**" Shukaku yelled aloud.

"**Naruto, let me take over**," Kurama told Naruto. Naruto complied. "**Oy, you Tanuki, what do you think you're doing prancing around like that?**"

"**Oh shut up! I finally get my own freedom from being trapped inside this brat and you're saying I can't celebrate? Who do you think you are telling me what I can and can't do?!**" Shukaku retorted.

Kurama snickered. "**You're the own being a brat. I think you're the reason why your brat's practically insane. But then again, the weak will try and torment the defenseless**."

Shukaku got angry by this. "**I'm weak?! Just because you have 9 tails doesn't mean that you're better than me!**"

"**Haha, it just means that I'm stronger than you!**" Kurama replied.

"**I'll show you who the stronger tailed beast is!**" Shukaku yelled. He then got his arm and presses hard on his stomach. "**Take this! Wind Style: Air bullets!**"

Kurama just moved to the side dodging the jutsu. He then snickered, "**If that's the best that you can do, then you're better off going back to sleep**."

Shukaku was just getting angrier. "**You've seen nowhere near my best! Try these on for size! Wind Style: Air bullets!**" Shukaku then shot out a wide barrage of bullets at Kurama.

'Kurama, what are you doing? You're only making him angrier,' Naruto exclaimed to the fox.

Kurama jumped up to dodge the barrage and responded to Naruto, "**Oy, I'm just getting him ready for you to beat him down. This fight's boring so you take over.**"

Naruto's head twitched. 'Then why did you come out in the first place?!' Naruto sighed internally and then took control again. "Alright you big Tanuki, it's time I beat you down," Naruto said to Shukaku. He then formed his signature hand-sign and now there were 3 large Nine-tails about to face off Shukaku.

They then all charged at Shukaku. Shukaku, thrown off by the new amount of enemies, readied his next barrage of air bullets. Unfortunately for him, one of the foxes slammed its paw onto Shukaku, blocking his mouth from opening. The other 2 foxes just pinned him down. Naruto made one clone of him and sent it towards Gaara's motionless body.

He landed on the nose of Shukaku and then charged up towards Gaara. He made a fast strike at Gaara's face yelling, "It's time to wake up!"

Shukaku, whose mouth was still blocked, had an upset look on his face, thinking 'Aw man! I just got my chance to be out, too!'

Gaara looked up and saw that he was pinned down by three foxes and that Naruto's clone was right in front of him. However, he didn't know that it was a clone and tried to unleash his wrath onto him. "How dare you!" Gaara screamed at the clone as he trapped the clone in a sand coffin. "Take this!" Gaara yelled as he motioned for his hand to crush the clone.

On the clone's end, he just performed his signature move and burst the coffin with dozens of Narutos. They then all charged at Gaara. "Gaara, you've met your match! Now take this, straight from the Naruto handbook, Naruto Uzumaki Punching Barrage!" the clones yelled as they sent a multitude of punches at Gaara, returning him to his original form.

Gaara hit the ground with a big thud. Never in his life had he experienced such external pain. The only pain he ever felt was the pain of the heart. Naruto then released all his clones, released his Kurama-mode, and then approached Gaara.

Gaara, scared for his life, panicked. "Stay away!" he screamed.

Naruto just smiled. "Gaara, I'm only here to be your friend."

Gaara was confused by his words. "Friend? Why would you go so far just to be my friend?"

"Because some friends are worth it," Naruto said as he sat next to him. "Just like you, I'm a Jinchuriki. I know the pain of being alone, more than one ever should. But, I had some friends that helped save me from that despair. It's because of them that I didn't self-destruct. I don't want you to be trapped in that hell."

Gaara looked at him with wide eyes of wonder. Never in his life had someone done something for him. He only took in everyone's hate. But there was one doubt in his mind. "How do I know that you won't try and kill me like everyone else?"

Naruto face faulted. "You're asking that now? You're on the ground, motionless and powerless."

Gaara looked at himself and then laughed. For the first time in his life, he had a nice long laugh, which creeped Naruto out. He then stopped. "Okay, Naruto. You win. Let's be friends."

Naruto smiled at him. "Alright, and let's not fight to this extent again, okay?" Gaara nodded. Naruto then made a clone and they helped Gaara up. But then, a multitude of Anbu appeared.

"Naruto Uzumaki, I must ask you to hand over boy," one of the Anbu said.

"I'm going to have to decline on that," Naruto said with a smirk. "You guys don't get to just take my friend." Gaara looked at Naruto strangely. No one had ever done something like that for him before.

"I'm afraid you have no say in the matter," the Anbu replied. "Hand him over now."

Naruto's smile turned into a dead serious face. He then summoned an immense amount of Kurama's chakra. With his red eyes, he said, "I thought I told you no. Now leave at once."

Sweat dropped from all of the Anbu. However, an elderly man covered mostly in bandages approached Naruto. He went by the name of Danzo Shimura. "Naruto, this is a clear matter of village security. Now hand over the boy."

Naruto looked at Danzo with the same eyes he showed the Anbu. "Even if it was a matter of security, you are in no position, given your current standing, to be in charge of Gaara."

Danzo's visible eye opened with anger. "You little brat, learn your place!" Danzo yelled as he began to swing his cane at Naruto.

"Danzo!" the Third Hokage yelled. Danzo stopped short of hitting Naruto and the Third Hokage approached them. "Naruto is right. Since the Uchiha incident, I've disbanded your organization and you currently have no power or say in this matter."

Danzo quickly replied, "But Sarutobi…"

"End of discussion," the Hokage stammered. He then turned to Naruto. "Now Naruto, I don't have all of the facts, but this boy does pose a threat to the village. The damage around us is proof of that."

Naruto cooled down a little. "We apologize for that. We were just having a friendly spar between friends and it got out of hand. But, the situation is completely under control right now."

The old Hokage sighed. "Fine, if that is all that you have to say on the matter, then it seems that the problem resolved itself." He then turned to the Anbu. "Okay, all of you disperse."

As soon as he gave the order, the Anbu disappeared. Danzo was mortified at what had happened. Every action he did was for the Leaf. He only did what he thought was best, and now the Nine-tails brat is showing him up for it. There's nothing he could do about it now, with the Third in the way, but once a chance arises, he'll do something about the Nine-tails.

Naruto, still maintaining some of the Kurama's chakra, looked at Danzo. "Hey Danzo, I hope you're not planning anything."

Danzo quickly turned but refused to show a face of surprise. "Whatever do you mean?"

Naruto glared at him. "I'll let you in on a secret. The Nine-tail's chakra allows me to sense emotions around me, so I can tell what you are feeling, and it's not something good."

Danzo glared back at him. This brat wasn't going to let him get away with anything.

The Third Hokage just sighed at this. "Danzo, I think we should all just go back to the village. You should rest, old friend. I think you have too much on your mind."

Danzo looked back at the Third. He wasn't going to be able to get away with anything at the moment so he decided to accept his defeat for now. "Yes, you may be right. I might just be getting paranoid with my old age." Danzo then disappeared and returned to the village.

Naruto then proceeded to bring Gaara with him back to the village. The Third Hokage walked with him. "Gaara, is it, I am the Third Hokage. It's nice to be acquainted with the Fourth Kazekage's son. Though I say that now, you must know that in our village we have rules, and I hope that you'll abide by them during your stay here."

Gaara looked back at the Hokage. He wasn't like his father, who always gave him a look of disappointment. He seemed more open and warm. He almost seems like someone he, too, could also call a friend. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again," Gaara said to Naruto's surprise.

"Sorry? Gaara we were just having a friendly spar. There's nothing to be sorry about," Naruto said with a big smile on his face.

Gaara looked at Naruto with wonder. Naruto didn't make him feel bad for what he did and he kept defending him. For once, he felt truly happy.

The Third Hokage looked at the two ninja. He was most astounded with Naruto's special ability to befriend almost anyone. He had heard many rumors about the secluded third child of the Kazekage, but to think that Naruto would be able to break through that shell of disclosure was amazing. He followed Naruto and his clone holding up Gaara back to the village.

_Back in the village_

Naruto, Gaara and the Third Hokage entered the village. Temari and Kankuro suddenly appeared before them.

"Gaara! What happened to him?!" Temari exclaimed.

"Ah, well me and Gaara had a little spar. But, I think we took it a little too far," Naruto said with a little laugh.

"Don't joke around with us! Look at the condition he's in!" Kankuro yelled.

"What part of 'we took it a little too far' didn't you understand?" Naruto chided.

Kankuro and Temari were getting a little fed up with Naruto, but then Gaara intervened. "Kankuro, Temari, it's alright. He's telling the truth."

"But, Gaara…" Temari started.

"It's okay," Gaara said with a small smile. This surprised Temari and Kankuro, but they decided to leave the topic alone.

Kankuro looked at the defeated state that Gaara was in and then he looked at Naruto. "What's your name kid?" Kankuro asked.

"Me? It's Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said with a smile.

"I see. We'll take Gaara from here," Kankuro said as he and Temari grabbed Gaara. 'Naruto Uzumaki, for him to put Gaara in such a state is… What are you?'

The Third Hokage had been idly watching as a spectator of the conversation. He then said, "Gaara was a pleasure. It's unfortunate that our ninja sometimes go a little overboard, but sometimes an exchange of fists is a nice greeting between fellow ninja."

This didn't make the two Sand ninja feel any better. They just bowed and quickly vanished with Gaara. Gaara looked up at his two siblings. "Kankuro, Temari…" he started. They both turned to look at him. "I'm sorry… about everything."

Temari and Kankuro were dumbfounded. That was a response that they'd never expect from Gaara. Kankuro was trying to think of an appropriate response. "No problem, Gaara."

_With Naruto_

The Hokage watched as the Sand ninja disappeared. "Well, Naruto, I hope what you're planning is worthwhile."

Naruto looked back and smirked. "Don't worry about it; it'll all be worth it."

The Hokage just sighed at his comment. He knew that there wasn't much he could do about it anyways. How can you argue with someone who knows what's going to happen? "Well, if that's all then I hope you have a nice day," he said as he walked off.

Naruto just looked happy. Getting his friend was a big step since he'd made the trek back in time.

Kurama decided to speak up. "**So, now that Gaara's your friend again, what do you think we should do about the upcoming exams?**"

'Well, actually, I think Gaara being my friend can actually help out our situation,' Naruto told the fox.

Kurama just gave him a sigh. "**I don't think it's going to be that easy. You think that he alone could convince all of the Sand to not partake in the invasion? All of them hate him.**"

Naruto thought about it. 'SHITTTTTTT!'

Kurama fell over. "**Are you kidding me?! You thought that it would be that easy, that one boy would be able to convince all of them to not fight? Your stupidity has no bounds does it!**"

Naruto sighed. 'Okay, fine. It's not the best plan, but it's a start, right?'

The fox just waved Naruto off and decided to take a nap.

Naruto's head hurt while walking back to his place. As he walked back into his place, he was welcomed with a nice aroma. He looked to his right and saw a mess on the floor and some nice stew set up at the table.

"Hey, Haku," Naruto said as he took off his shoes. He gave him a confused look at the floor, but Haku quickly answered him.

"That was the first try. I was cooking and then there was a big earthquake that knocked it down." A drop of sweat fell from Naruto's head. "Sorry, I'll clean it up right away," Haku said.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I got it," Naruto said, feeling responsible for the mess.

Haku was a little confused by the gesture but he let it go. "So, where did you run off to after training?" Haku asked as he was setting the table.

Naruto was just finishing up the spill. "Oh, nothing much, just decided to meet an old friend."

"Ah, that's nice," Haku said pouring Naruto a bowl.

"Yeah, it was," Naruto said as he took his bowl and grabbed a seat. He took one sip from his stew and quickly said, "This is amazing!"

Haku smiled at Naruto's comment. "Thank you, Naruto. That means a lot."

"No problem," Naruto responded. "So, you got any plans for the rest of the day?"

Haku thought for a moment. "None come to mind. Oh, there was one thing I was hoping you could help me do."

Naruto gave a little look. "What's that?"

Haku answered, "Could you show me around the village?"


	16. Chapter 16

Naruto thought for a second. It wasn't a bad idea. He had no plans for himself later and it was important for Haku to get more acquainted with the village that he lived in. "Alright, sure," he answered.

"Fantastic," Haku replied. Haku looked very excited to go on his little excursion with Naruto.

Naruto and Haku quickly finished up their food and put away the dishes. They then got ready to explore the village. Naruto wasn't sure where to go first. But then he remembered the first time he met Haku back in his time. Haku had been gathering herbs and seemed to like flowers. So, Naruto decided to take Haku to the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

As they entered, they were welcomed by Ino at the stand saying, "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop! We have some of the most beautifu-." Ino stopped short when she saw who she was welcoming. "Naruto? What are you doing here? More flowers for a date with Hinata?" she asked with a little demonic smile.

Naruto paid no mind to her look. "No, I'm just showing Haku around the village. I figured coming here would be a nice start to our tour."

Ino's face brightened up. "Well you chose right! We have all sorts of flowers here! The best that you'd ever find! Please let me know if there's anything here that you'd need help with!" she said with a smile before getting back to the front desk.

Haku seemed to enjoy being in front of the many assortment of flowers. Although he was never much for picking flowers for beauty, he did enjoy the sight of flora before him. He crouched down next to some Violets and took in the aroma. It smelled nice.

Naruto was watching Haku observe the many flowers and smiled a little. He was glad that he could help Haku. Haku was starting to feel like someone precious to him, almost like a brother. Then his thoughts went to Sasuke, the person he had always thought as a brother and best friend. Maybe he should invite Sasuke for some fun. But then Naruto thought about what Sasuke's idea of fun was. Training… Naruto just sighed at the thought, but then he heard the ring from the cash register. Naruto looked up and saw that Haku had bought a blue flower and put it in his hair.

Haku walked over to Naruto and smiled. "So, how does it look?"

Naruto blushed a little. If he didn't know that Haku was a boy, he'd probably be blushing harder. Then, he said, "It looks nice. Flowers really do suit you."

Haku smiled at Naruto's comment.

Naruto then said, "Okay, let's get going to our next stop." With that comment, they left and Haku followed Naruto.

Naruto thought for a moment. What would be a good place to go to? He thought maybe to Ichiraku's, but they weren't really hungry right now. He finally decided to take Haku to the park. It was the only thing he could think of that was nice. He thought about all of the fun memories that he had there with friends, and then the sad ones of when they left with their parents.

They walked over and there were a bunch of little kids there. As soon as they saw Haku, their faces got a little happier. All of the kids ran over to Haku quickly.

One kid spoke up, "Pretty lady, do you want to play with us?" Naruto face faulted when that kid said that.

Haku just smiled and agreed. Naruto looked a little ticked off that no one asked him to play but he didn't really mind. He watched as the Haku ran around with the kids. The kids decided to chase Haku a little so Haku decided to make it a little fun. He ran around until he met a tree and then he decided to stick to the tree with Chakra.

The kids were amazed. "Woah! Pretty lady, are you a magician?!" one kid said.

Haku replied, "No, I'm not a magician. But, I am a ninja." Haku then performed a few hand signs and disappeared in a gust of wind, reappearing right behind the kids.

The kids turned around. "Woahhhhhhh!" they all yelled with excitement.

Naruto smiled at Haku. He seemed to know how to put on a good show. He then saw Haku draw the moisture from the air and create small ice flowers for the kids. The kids were amazed.

Then one kid spoke up. "Hey, pretty lady? Could you show us some cool ninja stuff? You know, like the stuff you do in a fight?"

Haku thought for a moment. "Unless there's someone else I'm fighting, I wouldn't be able to show the full potential of my Ninjutsu." The kids got a little disappointed at Haku's response.

Naruto then got an idea. He made a slight transformation, giving himself black hair and unique apparel. He was wearing a whitish cloak with small black fingerless gloves. He walked over in a sly manner and then spoke up. "Yo! You Haku of the Leaf? I got some beef with you! I challenge you to a battle!"

Haku was able to tell that it was Naruto so he decided to play along. "And who might you be, kind sir?"

"Just call me N-," but then Naruto stopped himself. He wanted to give himself a cool villainous name. He then came up with one. "Just call me Menma the Menacing."

All of the kids made a little uproar. Half of them booed Naruto while the other half told Haku to beat Naruto up.

Haku smiled at Naruto. "Okay, Na-, I mean Menma, I accept your challenge. Prepare yourself."

Naruto smiled at this and then started charging in. He threw a few punches and Haku blocked. Then Haku threw some attacks and Naruto dodged. Their battle in Taijutsu was really making the kids stare in awe.

Naruto took out a kunai and Haku responded by taking out a senbon. They then began to clash with their weapons. After a few slashes, Haku jumped back and grabbed some senbon. He then shot them at Naruto, but Naruto deflected them all with his Kunai.

Naruto then jumped back a few steps and then formed his signature technique. He yelled, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Now there were a few Narutos in front of Haku. "Get ready! My Multi Menma Style is a force to be reckoned with!"

Haku got himself ready to face off the many Narutos. He decided that it would look nicer to first try and dodge all of his attacks, so he began dodging the many blows Naruto was dealing. Haku then took out some senbon and destroyed all of the clones.

All of the kids were cheering Haku on. They all yelled, "Go Haku! Beat up Menacing Menma!"

Haku then shot a fast punch at Naruto, pulling his arm short of hitting him, but to the kids, it looked like Naruto was hit. Naruto, catching on to Haku quickly, made it look like the punch did a lot of damage and flew a few feet backwards. Naruto then focused the chakra in his hand, forming a sphere-like orb.

"You're stronger than you look," Naruto said. "But, nothing you do, Haku, can shield you from this attack!"

Haku then realized what Naruto implied. He then made some hand signs and yelled, "Secret Technique: Crystal Ice Mirrors!" Haku then made a few mirrors lined up one after another. "Nothing can get past this defense."

Naruto grinned at Haku. He then charged at Haku's mirrors. He shot his Rasengan at the mirrors and there was a clash. Naruto destroyed many mirrors, but with one Rasengan, he couldn't destroy them all.

Naruto looked up at Haku. "You're shield may be impressive. But, you're a fool if you think that's all I got."

Haku smiled. "Well come. I still have some tricks up my sleeve."

Both of them then went at each other again, much to the kids delight.

_With Gaara and his siblings_

Gaara laid there on the bed in his room alone. His siblings helped give him some basic first aid, but the monster inside of him was really helping him heal. Despite his healing abilities, his siblings worried whether he'd be alright for the Chunin Exams. Gaara had been thinking about a lot after his battle with Naruto. He then thought about the true purpose for why they were in the Leaf.

Temari and Kankuro both walked into Gaara's room and sat down. Gaara just looked as they entered.

Then Temari decided to speak up. "Ugh, Gaara, would you please tell us what exactly happened?" Temari didn't dare make eye contact. Everything so far had been going downhill. Never had she ever seen Gaara in the state that he was in.

Gaara's face didn't faze from Temari's question, though. He just replied, "I made a new friend."

Kankuro was confused, more so because he never believed that Gaara would be capable of making friends. "It's nice that you made a friend, but I think Temari wants to know why you're all messed up." Kankuro recalled in his entire memory, he never knew Gaara could be so hurt.

Gaara answered, "His name is Naruto Uzumaki. He saved me from myself, from my loneliness. He taught me that I don't need to love only myself, that I don't need to be all alone. He saved me… from myself."

Kankuro looked intently at his brother. "Gaara. Considering our future plans, I think you should reconsider befriending the enemy."

Gaara turned his head towards his brother. "I am reconsidering, but it's not about Naruto. He's not someone that I'd betray."

"So you're going to go against the plan?! You're going to betray our village?!" Temari stammered.

"Let me put this in other words. Without me, the plan will be nearly impossible to accomplish, considering my role in it. But, if I was to assist the Leaf, then the plan would be an utter disaster for the Sand," Gaara said.

Kankuro stood up. "You'd throw everything away, just for one person?!"

Gaara then gave a sad look to his siblings. "I'm truly sorry for what I've done to you two in the past. But, you two have feared me for as long as I could remember. After all that fear that you've felt over the years, you'd be willing to inflict the same kind of fear on others?" Gaara then looked away towards the window. "We are better than that."

Kankuro and Temari's faces both lightened up at Gaara's comment. They were initially thrown off by how Gaara apologized to them, but Kankuro also found Gaara's words uplifting. For the first time, Gaara instilled hope and thoughtfulness instead of hate and dissatisfaction.

_With Naruto and Haku_

Naruto and Haku had a lot of fun putting on a show for the kids. Haku especially never had anyone to showcase his skills to except Zabuza. He remembered when he tried showing his skills to his mother and her slapping him.

After the kids left with their parents, Naruto realized that he and Haku were pretty dirty and sweaty. Naruto released his transformation and said, "Those kids really do have lots of energy, huh."

Haku replied, "Yeah, this was nice, though. Times like this make me wonder what my life would be like if I was born in this land instead of my own." Naruto gave Haku a small smile. Thinking about the original past, he feels really glad that he changed the past. Haku then spoke up. "Is there anywhere we should stop last or should we call it a night?"

Naruto then looked up and the sun was almost down. He then got a good idea. "Hey Haku, why don't I take you to one more place in the village?"

Haku was a little confused. It was late and almost dinner time. Where would Naruto take him? "Where would we go?"

Naruto just grabbed Haku's hand and ran, dragging poor Haku through the village. Some villagers were laughing at the little display while some were giving dark looks at Naruto. After a few minutes, Naruto finally reached the destination. The two of them were standing in front of the Leaf's hot springs.

Naruto let go of Haku's hand and said, "I figured since we got sweaty and dirty from playing around that it'd be a nice idea to take a nice soak in hot springs. Interested?"

Haku smiled a little. "I've never been inside a hot spring before, but it sounds like fun. Let's do it," Haku said, happy about Naruto's consideration.

Two guys happened to be looking at the scene between Naruto and Haku and got angry with jealousy. They were thinking about how lucky it was for a guy to hear his girlfriend say "yes" to go together into a public bath. Although, they were never really popular with the ladies, they still fantasized about how amazing it would be to have such a cute girlfriend. The fact that a little brat got to do what most men could only dream of made the two men burn with an angry fire.

Naruto noticed the two guys, but had no idea why they looked at him with so much hate. Even though he got glares for holding the demon fox inside him, he never received such glares of rage. But Naruto just let them be.

Haku and Naruto walked into the men's section of the hot springs and got undressed. Naruto was the first to go into the hot springs. There didn't seem to be anyone else there. Naruto got in the spring and let out a big sigh of relief. He thought he sounded like an old man, sighing like that.

Haku soon entered as well.

Naruto examined Haku up and down. Although Haku has many features that would warrant someone to call him a girl, he was, without a doubt, a boy. Naruto still blushed a little even knowing that he was a boy.

"Ahhhhh, I've never experienced something so relaxing," Haku said as he soaked in the spring. "Being with Zabuza most of the time, we've never gotten chances like this to relax."

"Yeah, relaxing like this is nice every once in a while," Naruto replied. He then looked up towards the starry sky. His mind drifted to the upcoming Chunin Exams. He hadn't given much thought to it, but recalling on his previous experience in the past, there's so much to be done. He didn't want the same events to unfold like they had in the past. The most memorable thing that happened was that the village lost their Hokage. Would his presence be able to prevent that event?

Haku saw Naruto's eyes and saw uneasiness and unsureness in them. "Something up, Naruto?"

"Nah, nothing's up except those stars in the sky," Naruto replied while keeping his gaze on them.

Haku chuckled a little. "No, that's not what I meant, Naruto. I was wondering if everything was alright. You look a little uneasy."

Naruto looked back at Haku and gave a little smile. "Haha, I think I'm just a little nervous of the Chunin Exams. I'm always thinking about what could and couldn't happen."

Haku smiled at Naruto's response. "In the ninja world, anything can happen. People can die at any time in our line of work. But, I think everything will work out for us, especially since we have you looking out for us, Naruto," Haku said with a bright smile. "When you have precious people, you can go far beyond what you're capable, but you already are pretty capable. So I think that whatever challenge we may face, so long as we have you, we'll be alright."

Naruto blushed a little at Haku's comment. Naruto then gave Haku a little thumbs up with a grin. 'That's right. None of us will fall like we had. If the hero of the Leaf and of the Fourth Shinobi War were to let such a tragedy to befall the Leaf, then I wouldn't be worthy of my prior accomplishments. And, I'm not alone. With everyone with me, I can do this. I can save everyone!'

Naruto's eyes looked back up at the sky, but they no longer had any shrouds of doubt. Now, they were filled with everlasting determination.


End file.
